Chief U.S. District Court Judge Linda R. Reade signed an order Tuesday dismissing defendant William B. Aossey Jr.’s request for dismissal of 12 of 19 charges prior to the July 7 scheduled start of his jury trial in Cedar Rapids, IA. Halal_408x250The judge’s order means that the 73-year-old Cedar Rapids businessman will go to trial on all 19 federal counts charged last Dec. 5 by a grand jury indictment. Aossey is the founder of two organizations that formed the backbone of an international Halal food service based in the north central Iowa community — Midamar Corporation and Islamic Services of America. In the 19 counts, the grand jury charged Aossey with conspiring to make false statements and documents, sale of misbranded meat, and committing mail and wire fraud. Midamar, ISA, and Aossey’s two sons faced similar sets of charges, but they are not scheduled for trial until September. After hearing oral arguments yesterday on the motions for partial dismissal, Reade denied the requests and found that the defense failed to show there was any “defect in the indictment.” She found challenged allegations in the indictment valid because, if proven, they are violations of law. “Here, the government alleges that Defendant ‘caused employees of Midamar and ISA to change labels on … beef product shipments for the purpose of making it appear, falsely, that the products originated from a designated approved slaughter facility,” read Reade’s ruling. “The scheme … was executed with the intent to result in payment of money to Midamar.’” The indictment, she noted, “further alleges that Defendant ‘knowing caused’ … a (transmission) by means of wire communication in interstate commerce, of monetary payments to Midamar’s bank account.” The July 7 trial begins with jury selection in Reade’s Cedar Rapids courtroom.