Trump Commutes Kosher Meat Processing Plant Operator's 27-Year Bank Fraud Sentence

WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork) -- President Donald Trump on Wednesday commuted the sentence of a kosher meat processing company operator from Brooklyn, who had been convicted of bank fraud in Iowa.

Trump commuted the sentence for Sholom Rubashkin, 57, after being encouraged to do so by bipartisan leaders across the political spectrum, according to a White House news release.

Rubashkin is a father of 10 children. The New York Daily News reported he is from Brooklyn, and the White House said he ran the Iowa headquarters of a family business that was the country's largest kosher meat processing company.

Rubashkin was convicted of bank fraud in 2009 and was sentenced to 27 years in prison, according to the White House.

The Daily News reported Rubashkin was first arrested in 2008, after the Department of Justice and Immigration and Customs enforcement raided the Iowa plant and arrested almost 400 undocumented immigrants.

An Iowa jury cleared Rubashkin of charges that he used underage immigrants at his plant, ruling that he could not held responsible if teens got jobs with fake IDs, the Daily News reported.

But a federal jury in Iowa found Rubashkin guilty of inflating accounts and money laundering to the tune of $26 million, the newspaper reported.

Many called Rubashkin's sentence excessive compared with sentences imposed for similar crimes, the White House said.

The White House noted that Rubashkin's sentence is only being commuted and he has not been pardoned. His conviction remains in place and he will be under a term of supervised release and a major restitution obligation despite being released from prison.

Trump's review of Rubashkin's case and commutation were based on support from more than 100 DOJ officials, prosecutors, judges, and legal scholars who said his sentence was excessive, the White House said. More than 30 members of Congress also wrote letters on Rubashkin's behalf, according to the White House.

Large crowds were seen celebrating on the street in Borough Park, Brooklyn upon hearing the news that Rubashkin was to be released.