You cannot make this stuff up
Juror in Feeding Our Future trial dismissed after woman offers bag of $120,000 in cash to acquit defendants
In a shocking development, a juror was dismissed Monday morning after a woman showed up at her house Sunday, offering a bag of cash to acquit the defendants.
A juror in the Feeding Our Future federal trial was dismissed suddenly Monday morning after a woman showed up at her door Sunday with a bag of $120,000 in cash and offers of a second bag of cash if she votes to acquit the defendants, attorneys said in court.
The 23-year-old juror wasn’t home when the woman showed up, but the unnamed person left the juror’s father-in-law a bag of cash and told him to tell the juror that another bag of cash would be dropped off if she votes to acquit the seven defendants in the fraud case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said.
“This is completely beyond the pale,” he told U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel. “This is outrageous behavior. This is stuff that happens in mob movies.”
The juror immediately reported the incident to Spring Lake Park police and turned over the bag of cash, and law enforcement are investigating the incident, Thompson said.
The trial, now entering its seventh week, in the first one in a broader fraud case that prosecutors have called one of the largest pandemic fraud schemes in the country, totaling more than $250 million in federal money meant to feed needy children.
The bag of cash is “a troubling and upsetting accusation,” defense attorney Andrew Birrell told Brasel on Monday.
Thompson requested Brasel detain defendants due to some of them having overseas connections and being a flight risk. Brasel ordered the defendants’ phones confiscated by an FBI agent and will decide later Monday whether to detain the defendants or sequester the jury, which has 12 jurors and six alternates.
One-by-one, Brasel questioned each of the 17 jurors Monday to ensure they haven’t had any unauthorized contact. They all confirmed they haven’t.
Prosecutors and four defense attorneys gave their closing arguments in the case on Friday. Three more defense teams will give their closing arguments on Monday before the jury deliberates in the case.
The seven defendants — Said Shafii Farah, Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin, Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff and Hayat Mohamed Nur — were charged in 2022 with wire fraud, money laundering and other charges. They have connections to a Shakopee restaurant, Empire Cuisine & Market.
The seven defendants are among 70 people charged in the broader case, all tied to U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that reimburse schools, day-care facilities and nonprofits for feeding low-income children after school and during the summer.
The seven received more than $40 million in federal reimbursements for 18 million meals distributed at 50 food sites across Minnesota — from Rochester to St. Cloud. Prosecutors allege the defendants ran a “brazen” fraud scheme that created numerous shell companies to launder money, submitted rosters of made-up children’s names and inflated meal claims.
Prosecutors also say some defendants received and gave kickbacks to other people charged in the massive scheme, leading to bribery charges. They said the six men and one woman spent the money lavishly on themselves, including the purchases of a $1 million lakefront Prior Lake property, luxury cars and gold jewelry.
Defense attorneys have sought in the past month to cast doubt on what they say was sloppy FBI work, sharply criticizing investigators for not even visiting food warehouses or distributions sites to verify the meals were served. In closing arguments, they’ve said there’s too much reasonable doubt in the case because prosecutors had insufficient evidence based on unreliable witnesses and selective data.
Defense attorneys have said their clients provided real food to real children and used real bank accounts and other official records with their real names, and did not conceal or hide information.
Kelly Smith covers nonprofits/philanthropy for the Star Tribune and is based in Minneapolis. Since 2010, she’s covered Greater Minnesota on the state/region team, Hennepin County government, west metro suburban government and west metro K-12 education.
