Late last year, federal prosecutors in Iowa offered to settle the government’s bank fraud case against Sholom Rubashkin for, at most, 15 years in prison. Rubashkin, a kosher-slaughterhouse manager accused of doctoring paperwork on a $35 million loan, said no.

Now, after winning conviction on 86 counts that included fraud and money laundering, the government is seeking life in prison for Rubashkin, who is scheduled to be sentenced this week.