No Verdict in Rubashkin Child Labor Trial

By Jeff Reinitz, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

Defense attorneys Mark Weinhardt, left, and Montgomery Brown confer behind Sholom Rubashkin during Rubashkin's child labor trial at the Black Hawk County Courthouse on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 in Waterloo, Iowa. Rubashkin, a former manager of Agriprocessors, a Kosher slaughterhouse, faces 83 child labor violation charges stemming from a May 2008 raid at the plant in which 389 illegal immigrants, including 31 children, were detained. (AP Photo/The Des Moines Register, Christopher Gannon)

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By Becky Ogann

Story Created: Jun 4, 2010 at 5:02 PM CDT

Story Updated: Jun 4, 2010 at 5:02 PM CDT

WATERLOO — Jurors in Sholom Rubashkin’s child labor trial are getting the weekend off before they continue deliberations.

Judge Nathan Callahan dismissed the panel of seven jurors shortly after 4 p.m. Friday, given that they had not reached a verdict. They are to report to the courthouse Monday morning.

Deliberations began Friday mornings after almost a month of testimony and arguments.

Rubashkin is charged with 67 counts of child labor violations involving some 26 teens from Guatemala and Mexico who worked at the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in Postville in 2007 and 2008.

Prosecutors said Rubashkin, who was described as the CEO and co-vice president of the company, knew that minors worked at the kosher slaughterhouse but didn’t do anything to remove them or change hiring practices.

The defense said Rubashkin couldn’t have wanted minors at the plant because it was under the microscope from unionization efforts, Jewish groups and regulators.

Rubashkin is currently awaiting sentencing in federal court for a fraud conviction in connection with bank loans the company received.

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