Prosecutors painted Rubashkin as the ringleader of an enormous fraud and immigrant-harboring scheme that festered at the plant for years. Defense lawyers said the charges stemmed from over zealous prosecutors, who failed to prove the allegations.

A seven-woman, five-man jury must now decide whether the former Agriprocessors, Inc. vice president is guilty of 91 federal fraud crimes. Jurors received the case this afternoon, after several hours of raised voices and courtroom theatrics.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Deegan Jr. said Rubashkin’s claim that he did not know about the crimes at Agriprocessors was “ridiculous,” and urged jurors to convict the former executive on all 91 financial fraud charges.

Rubashkin is charged with mail, bank and wire fraud, money laundering and ignoring an order to pay cattle providers in the time required by law. He has pleaded not guilty.

“This case is very much about control,” Deegan said. “The defendant’s control over money from customers. The defendant’s control over money for cattle providers . . . the defendant’s control over his workers. And finally, control over the bottom line.”

The allegations against Rubashkin came about five months after federal immigration agents raided Agriprocessors and arrested 389 illegal workers. The plant sought bankruptcy protection several months after the May 2008 raid, and now runs under new ownership as Agri Star.

Prosecutors allege that Rubashkin falsified sales records to mislead the plant’s St. Louis-based lender, so he could collect larger advances on a $35 million credit line.

Rubashkin also allegedly diverted customer payments into the plant, and used some of the money to pay for jewelry, silver, and house renovations.

Rubashkin knew about hundreds of illegal immigrants who worked at the plant as far back as May 2005, Deegan said. Elizabeth Billmeyer, the plant’s human resources director, warned him in an e-mail that “someone could go to prison for this” but was ignored.

When Billmeyer refused to process any more fraudulent work papers, Rubashkin told two other human resource employees to hire the illegal workers at night and put them on a separate payroll, Deegan said.

Deegan scoffed at Rubashkin’s assertion that former plant controller Toby Bensasson ran the scam without his knowledge. Bensasson pleaded guilty to one conspiracy charge in August and testified against his former boss.

“It’s ridiculous,” Deegan said. “It’s a child’s excuse. He says: 'Toby made me do it, and I didn’t know it was illegal, and even if I did know it was wrong, I didn’t think the bank would care.’”

Government over-reached, defense lawyer say.

Rubashkin lawyer Guy Cook repeated the defense team’s assertions that Rubashkin did not oversee financial decisions.

He said Rubashkin’s alleged behavior did not constitute fraud, because the plant’s lender continued to send money despite repeated violations of their loan agreement and the hundreds of illegal workers exposed by the raid.

Bank officials acknowledged during trial that they collected at least $13.5 million in interest payments from the asset-based loan, which is riskier than most traditional business loans.

Defense lawyers argue that bank officials, as a result, did not care about the plant’s questionable business practices.

Prosecutors counter that the bank stopped lending to Agriprocessors as soon as they learned about the alleged fraud.

The arrangement, Cook said, was similar to a man who falsely claims to be 7 feet tall on a dating Web site to attract women. But the woman — in this case, First Bank — continued to “date” Rubashkin even after discovering that he was much shorter, Cook said.

Cook said his client was an inexperienced businessman who tackled too much. He held up the plant’s loan contract with the plant, which looked to be at least 100 pages, and reminded jurors that Rubashkin never read it. To emphasize his point, he dropped it on the floor.

Cook also showed jurors a Power Point slide of Rubashkin with his wife and their 10 children.

“Would he put these people at risk?” Cook asked. “Does he have the criminal intent that the government assigns him?”

The jurors listened silently, their hands in their laps, as the attorneys closed their cases. Aaron Rubashkin, the plant’s founder and family patriarch, sat in the back of the courtroom clutching a broad-rimmed black fedora.

Rubashkin stared blankly ahead, one hand resting on his wrist. After the jurors left to begin deliberations, he turned and hugged his lawyers.

The former meat plant executive faces a maximum 1,280-year prison sentence if convicted of all the financial fraud charges.

He also is expected to face 72 federal immigration charges at a second trial in December.