CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Federal prosecutors are seeking prison time for a former Iowa kosher slaughterhouse manager who they say exploited immigrant workers for labor, money and sex.
Prosecutors are planning to call several witnesses at Friday's sentencing hearing for Hosam Amara to recount abuses before a May 2008 immigration raid at the Agriprocessors, Inc., plant in which 389 workers were arrested.
They're hoping to convince U.S. District Judge Linda Reade to sentence Amara to 78 months in prison, the high end of a range recommended under advisory guidelines.
In a sentencing memo, U.S. Attorney Sean Berry says Amara should be punished for "financial and sexual exploitation of undocumented alien workers."
Amara was the plant's poultry manager. He pleaded guilty last year to conspiring with other executives to harbor immigrants for profit.
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