WASHINGTON – The US Supreme Court rejected without comment an appeal by the former manager of Postville, Iowa-based Agriprocessors Inc.

The high court declined to consider whether Shalom Rubashkin’s 27-year prison sentence was excessive for a non-violent, first-time offender and whether he was entitled to a new trial based on evidence of alleged judicial misconduct in the case.

On June 21, a federal judge in Iowa sentenced Rubashkin to 27 years in prison on financial fraud charges. Hundreds of illegal immigrant workers were arrested in a 2008 raid on the Agriprocessors facility. The raid led to the bankruptcy of Agriprocessors, prison and deportation for hundreds of illegal immigrant workers and a battered economy for Postville.

Federal prosecutors originally asked for a life sentence, but later reduced their request to 25 years.