Indictment

A federal grand jury has issued a 12-count indictment alleging that managers of a kosher slaughterhouse were intricately involved in efforts to employ illegal workers. The indictment involving the Agriprocessors plant in Postville was issued Thursday and unsealed Friday. Former Chief Executive Sholom Rubashkin and human resources worker Karina Freund, both facing federal charges, and three others were named. Federal immigration agents raided the plant in May and arrested 389 illegal immigrants.

Vice President Dick Cheney and former Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales have been indicted on state charges involving federal prisons in Willacy County. The indictment, returned Monday, has not been signed by the presiding judge. No action can be taken unless that happens. Cheney is charged with engaging in an organized criminal activity related to his investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds financial interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers.

Concerned for the safety of several witnesses, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office obtained a grand jury indictment last month of a former Los Angeles neighborhood council president who had been charged in October with misappropriating city funds. James Harris, who headed the Empowerment Congress Southwest Area Neighborhood Development Council in South Los Angeles, is the fifth neighborhood council leader to face criminal charges involving misuse of taxpayer funds.

Seven people and five companies have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta on charges of attempting to divert Lockheed C-130 cargo planes and parts worth $50 million to Libya, U.S. Atty. Stephen Cowen said Tuesday night. Details of the indictment and the names of those indicted were to be released today.

Renato Bernaldo Paulin, owner of a medical equipment supply company, was indicted Thursday on federal charges of seeking to defraud Medicare of more than $1 million with phony claims for motorized wheelchairs. The indictment says Paulin billed Medicare for motorized wheelchairs that were not medically needed. In some cases, the chairs were never provided.

JERUSALEM - Israel's attorney general said Thursday that he would charge Avigdor Lieberman, the nation's combative foreign minister, with fraud and breach of trust but would drop a more serious money-laundering case that had been looming for years. It remained unclear whether Lieberman, who is seeking reelection Jan. 22 as head of the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party, would be forced to resign or whether the indictment would hurt his party's chances in upcoming national elections.

In response to "Officers' Indictment Called Political," Aug. 7: Four police officers were indicted and made their first appearance on Aug. 6 in federal court. An attorney for the officers insisted "this case is a political case, not a legal case." Although I agree with the attorney's expression, he should be aware of what went on in the lower court. I strongly believe that the verdict of the lower court was also a political one, not a legal one, because of improper procedures.

Vice President Dick Cheney had some information pertaining to the CIA leak case. Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, has been indicted. And President Bush's shadow, Karl Rove, had some yet-to-be-defined knowledge. But what about Bush himself? Either he knew about it, or he's been left out of the White House's inner circle. If this potentially criminal blunder would have happened to a Democratic president, he would most certainly be facing an angry Republican impeachment mob. DICK MEIS Murrieta Friday's indictment of Vice President Cheney's chief of staff is more than an indictment of the behavior of Libby.

Three former University of South Carolina assistant football coaches were indicted by a South Carolina grand jury Wednesday for allegedly providing athletes with anabolic steroids, and a fourth was charged with importing the muscle-building drugs into the state. James W. Washburn, Thomas E. Gadd and Thomas Kurucz were charged with conspiring to conduct a program of illegal steroid use, according to the indictment. The coaches allegedly encouraged and monitored the progress of the athletes using steroids, the indictment said.

A wealthy Covina chiropractor and his secretary were indicted for their alleged roles in the kidnaping for ransom of a dental student in Mexico City in mid-June, U.S. Atty. Gary Feess announced Wednesday in Los Angeles. The federal grand jury indictment charges Rolando Peralta, the chiropractor; Socorro Contreras, his secretary, and Rigoberto Herrera, Contreras' boyfriend, with one count each of international hostage taking, conspiracy and extortion.