Jun.22, 2010, 9:00 AM

Sholom Rubashkin, the former day-to-day manager of the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, was sentenced Tuesday to 27 years in federal prison.

Rubashkin was convicted last fall of 86 counts of fraud, including money laundering and mail, wire and bank fraud charges. All of the charges stem back to a massive May 12, 2008, immigration raid at the Postville facility. More than 300 immigrant workers detained by federal authorities pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to identity theft within days of their apprehension, and the bulk have been deported after serving brief federal prison sentences.

Last November, a South Dakota jury concluded that Rubashkin ordered employees to create bogus financial documents to collect advances on a revolving loan.

Rubashkin was recently acquitted on 67 misdemeanor counts of violations of child labor law.

To date, 10 members of Agriprocessors management or office staff have been convicted on federal charges in the wake of the immigration raid. Only two defendants in the case have not faced prosecution: Hosam Amara and Zeev Levi. Both men are believed to have fled the country to avoid prosecution and are considered fugitives.