The trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday for the Midamar Corp. founder accused of orchestrating a halal beef export scheme in which products bound for Malaysia and Indonesia were mislabeled and documents falsified to deceive USDA inspectors.
William Aossey,73, of Cedar Rapids, is charged with one count of conspiracy to make false statements, sell misbranded meat and commit mail and wire fraud; seven counts of making or causing false statements to be made on export applications; seven counts of wire fraud; three counts of money laundering; and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Jury selection is expected to be completed this morning, with testimony expected to start at 1 p.m. in U.S. District Court. The trial is expected to last a week.
U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade denied a defense motion last week to dismiss the charges, saying Aossey missed the deadline to file for dismissal on the original and superseding indictments.
Aossey argued in the motion the secretary of agriculture has jurisdiction over the alleged misbranding or mislabeling violations, not the District Court, and claimed the government failed to provide him with proper notice of the alleged violations.
Reade said in the ruling the district courts have jurisdiction over all federal criminal offenses, including these charges. She also said the secretary of agriculture was under no requirement to give notice to defendants about violations before going forward with a criminal prosecution.
Aossey is accused of exporting halal beef from 2007 to 2010 that wasn’t slaughtered and produced at a company inspected and approved by Malaysia and Indonesia. Halal meat must be cut and produced according to Islamic law.
Midamar’s primary beef supplier was PM Beef in Windom, Minn. J.F. O’Neill Packing Co. in Omaha, Neb., also supplied beef to Midamar. In the summer of 2007, the O’Neill plant wasn’t supplying beef for export. During that time, O’Neill was approved to export to the two counties, but PM Beef wasn’t.
Prosecutors contend Aossey told employees and conspired with others to fabricate and falsify shipping records and change USDA product labels on PM Beef to say it had been produced at O’Neill, prosecutors contend. The labels deceived USDA inspectors, who are partially responsible for verifying that products shipped to Malaysia and Indonesia meet the export/import requirements of those counties, according to the indictment.
Midamar sent out a statement after Aossey was charged, saying the government’s “heavy-handed tactics” were disappointing and seemed to be targeting the company’s founder.
Aossey’s sons, Jalel Aossey, 40, and Yahya Nasser Aossey, 44, both corporate officers for their companies, Midamar and Islamic Services in Cedar Rapids, also were charged last December with 92 counts, similar to their father’s charges. The brothers’ trial is set for Aug. 28.