MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A third defendant pleaded guilty Wednesday for his role in an attempt to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash in exchange for acquittals in a massive COVID-19-related fraud case in Minnesota.
Abdulkarim Shafii Farah pleaded guilty to one count of bribery of a juror. He was the third of five defendants to admit to federal charges arising from the bribery case, which broke last year during the first trial of people charged in the Feeding Our Future scandal. Two of the seven defendants in that trial were Farah’s brothers.
According to prosecutors, after Farah’s codefendants decided to target one juror with a bribe attempt, Farah conducted surveillance of the juror and her house. He also drove a Seattle woman to the juror’s house and recorded a video of her delivering the bag of cash to a relative of the juror because they didn’t fully trust their accomplice. But the juror went straight to police after she got home later.
Prosecutors have alleged that the defendants targeted “Juror 52” because she was the youngest and they believed her to be the only person of color on the panel.
The Seattle woman, Ladan Mohamed Ali, pleaded guilty last September. The man who recruited her, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, pleaded guilty last July.
Farah, Ali and Nur are all awaiting sentencing. Cases against the two others charged in the bribery case are pending. Although the charge against Farah carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, the prosecution and defense agreed under the plea deal that the nonbinding federal sentencing guidelines recommend 46 to 57 months in prison.
Seventy people were charged and 45 have already been convicted in the larger fraud case, which centered on a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future. Prosecutors allege the participants stole $250 million from a federal program that was meant to feed children during the pandemic. The alleged ringleader, Aimee Bock, was convicted on all counts in her trial last month. Bock’s trial drew national attention partly because of an attempt to tamper with a witness that was foiled.
Lisa Kirkpatrick, the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota — who has called Feeding Our Future the largest fraud scheme against COVID-19 relief programs anywhere in the country — said in a statement Wednesday that the bribe attempt was “a shameful chapter in Minnesota history.”
“I am grateful for Juror 52, who is the true hero of this story. Juror 52 — who could not be corrupted and immediately alerted law enforcement — represents the best of Minnesota,” Kirkpatrick said.
