CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Hosam Amara, a former manager at a kosher slaughterhouse owned by Agriprocessors, appeared in a US courtroom May 3 to face charges he conspired to exploit immigrant workers, according to an Associated Press report. The former slaughterhouse manager fled to Israel following a raid in 2008.

Amara faces 25 counts related to harboring and two counts related to document fraud, according to AP. He pleaded not guilty, and was ordered jailed pending a trial scheduled for July 1.


Prosecutors said Amara fled to Israel with his family following a May 2008 raid on Agriprocessors that netted 389 arrests. It was the largest immigration raid at the time, according to AP. Amara was indicted in November and became a fugitive when he didn’t' turn himself in to authorities. He was arrested in Israel in March 2011 by Israeli authorities acting on an extradition request from the US. Amara challenged the extradition, but Israel's Supreme Court rejected his final appeal in March 2013.