The verdicts are in for the seven defendants in the Feeding Our Future fraud trial at the Federal Courthouse in Downtown Minneapolis and it's a split verdict for most of the defendants.
There were multiple charges against all seven of the people charged for various forms of fraud surrounding the use of COVID-relief money by the non-profit Feeding Our Future.
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For the jury, and now in that jury's findings, it's a complicated case involving multiple charges across multiple defendants.
For five of the seven, there were multiple guilty counts with some non guilty counts. Two defendants, Abdiwahab Aftin and Said Farah, were found not guilty of all counts they faced and are acquitted.
The other defendants in the case are Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff and Hayat Mohamed Nur and all face multiple guilty verdicts including wire fraud, bribery and money laundering in what federal prosecutors have called one of the nation's largest COVID-19-related fraud cases.
The verdicts delivered for each defendant were:
Abdiaziz Shafii Farah - Guilty on all counts but one Wire Fraud
Mohamed Jama Ismail - Guilty on all counts but Wire Fraud
Abdimajid Mohamed Nur - Guilty on all counts but three counts of money laundering
Said Shafii Farah - Not guilty on all counts
Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin - Not guilty on all counts
Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff - Guilty on four counts, not guilty on two counts
Hayat Mohamed Nur - Guilty on three counts, not guilty on two counts
"This conduct was not just criminal, it was depraved and brazen," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson after the verdicts were read. "This case invoked in many people, both in our office and around the state of Minnesota, with a state of outrage. That defendants would take advantage of a global pandemic and crisis and a program intended to feed children in need. We're pleased with the verdict."
All were charged in 2022 with wire fraud, money laundering and other charges in the largest COVID-relief fraud case in the country.
These seven are only the first of 70 defendants to stand trial in what is considered the largest pandemic fraud in the country. 18 others pled guilty.
Authorities say $250 million that was meant to feed children was stolen at a time when some of the rules were relaxed in order to keep the U.S. economy running.
With allegations of jury tampering, the Feeding Our Future trial has at a minimum been bizarre. There were two jurors dismissed in the case, and an investigation into attempted bribery. A woman at one point showing up at the home of the first dismissed juror with a bag containing $120,000 in cash. And a promise of more if they acquitted the seven defendants.
"There will be more trials to come in this case and related cases, and so I don't want to talk more," Thompson told reporters. "Obviously, this has been a hard week for everyone in the criminal justice system and in our office. I'm not going to comment on the attempt to bribe juror number 52 other than to say that we will investigate and prosecute that attack on our criminal justice system with all of our resources."
The second juror admitted to knowing about the attempted bribe which forced the judge to dismiss them from the trial, confiscate phones of both jurors and defendants, plus make the rare move to sequester the jury for deliberations.
Later, the FBI raided a Savage home of one of the defendants, Abdiaziz Shafii Farah.
The seven will be the first of 70 defendants to go on trial in the alleged scam. Eighteen others have already pleaded guilty.
Retired Hennepin County Judge Kevin Burke calls the case baffling and compared it to former Teamster head Jimmy Hoffa's bribery conviction 60 years ago.
Burke says he has sympathy for Judge Nancy Brasel who presided over the trial.
"She really has no one to turn to as to what do you do if there's been an attempt to bribe a jury," asks Burke. "I'm as baffled as everybody about how did this happen and how it will unfold."
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