Two brothers charged with bribing a juror in the Feeding Our Future trial pleaded not guilty Wednesday in federal court, and were ordered detained because they pose a flight and safety risk.
Said Farah and Abdulkarim Farah made few remarks during their court hearings, which were attended by about a dozen family members and supporters. A hearing for a third brother, Abdaiziz Farah, was moved to next Wednesday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Tony Leung stressed the seriousness of the highly unusual charges as he presided over both hearings.
“In my decades on the bench,” he said, “I have not experienced an attempt to bribe a juror in such a precalculated and organized way.”
U.S. Assistant Attorney Joe Thompson said that the only other instances of jury bribery he could find involved two organized crime kingpins: John Gotti in New York in the 1980s and Kid Cann in Minneapolis in the early 1960s.
“Those are the examples I have, notorious organized crime figures, and that’s the company that Mr. Farah and the others are in,” Thompson said.
No new details emerged Wednesday about the case, which shocked Minnesotans given its rarity and connection to an alleged scheme to defraud the federal government of $250 million meant to feed underprivileged children.
Abdiaziz and Said were among seven defendants who were the first suspects to go to trial in the Feeding Our Future case. Seventy suspects were charged in the case, and most are awaiting trial or other resolutions. Eighteen suspects pleaded guilty without going to trial.
Abdiaziz, Said and their five co-defendants in the joint trial were accused of stealing more than $40 million in federal money meant to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The trial started April 22 and ended June 7.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged the brothers and two others, Ladan Ali and Abdimajid Nur, last week with attempting to bribe a juror with $120,000 in cash to acquit the seven defendants. Abdimajid was also a co-defendant in the trial.
Jurors ultimately convicted five of the defendants — Abdiaziz, Abdimajid and three others. They fully acquitted Said and another defendant.
Abdiaziz has been in the Sherburne County jail since late in the trial when the alleged jury tampering first came to light on June 3, the same day that jury deliberations were set to begin. Said had been briefly detained at that same time, was released when he was acquitted, and then was detained again after being charged in the bribery case.
Abdulkarim, who was not charged in the broader Feeding Our Future case, was detained after he was charged in the bribery case.
The brothers’ supporters declined to comment after Wednesday’s hearings.
Judge orders detention
All three defendants appeared before the judge in orange jumpsuits. Said and Abdulkarim didn’t say more than, “Not guilty.”
Abdiaziz went first. Matthew Mankey, who was appointed by the court Tuesday to represent Abdiaziz, said Abdiaziz has retained private attorney Daniel Gerdts. Gerdts filed a motion for continuance Tuesday evening, requesting time to prepare and meet with Abdiaziz, who did not enter a plea Wednesday.
Thompson did not object to Mankey’s request.
Abdiaziz will remain detained in the Sherburne County jail. Thompson told the court that he will request next week that Abdiaziz stay detained.
Leung then moved on to Said, saying that he should remain in jail because the alleged attempted bribe strikes at the heart of the judicial system.
Thompson argued that Said should remain in custody because he had reason to flee, and because the alleged bribe shows that he is a risk to the community’s safety.
The jury system doesn’t work if defendants try to bribe a juror, Thompson said, adding that no conditions for letting Said out of jail would ensure that it wouldn’t happen again. Thompson also argued that Said could flee the country because he has connections in Somalia and Kenya.
“He has shown he is willing to do anything to escape justice,” Thompson said.
An attorney representing Said, Mike Villafranca, argued that Said did not personally deliver the money to the juror or follow her. Villafranca also said that there was no threat to harm the juror, and that Said did not attempt to flee during his trial in the Feeding Our Future case.
Leung heavily questioned Villafranca’s argument, pointing to allegations in the indictment that the juror was targeted and followed, among other details.
“You’re saying that’s not a threat to our community’s safety?” Leung asked.
“That’s what I’m arguing, your honor. There’s a difference between a threat and a bribe,” Villafranca replied.
Leung continued to forcefully denounce the attempted bribery throughout Abdulkarim’s hearing, which came last.
“The allegations of an attempt to bribe Juror 52 in such a sophisticated and executed manner threatened the heart of our system and the rule of law,” Leung said as he announced detention for Abdulkarim.
Abdulkarim’s attorney, Kevin DeVore, argued against detention, saying that his client is much younger than his two brothers and does not have a close relationship with them. He also noted that Abdulkarim is their half-brother.
DeVore said that Abdulkarim is not a flight risk, as federal prosecutors argued, because he has not traveled abroad in five years and doesn’t have access to his half-brothers’ money or assets in Kenya.
DeVore also argued that not everyone involved in the bribery case is alleged to have played equal roles, emphasizing that federal prosecutors did not request detention for Ladan Ali, the woman who allegedly delivered the money to the juror’s home.
There is no risk of Abdulkarim dodging future court hearings, DeVore said, adding that he turned himself into authorities after he was charged.
Leung said he was ordering detention because an attempt to bribe a jury endangers community safety.
Leung said that until this case, he had been comforted in all his years on the bench by the belief that “jury tampering and bribing a juror have not been part of our midwestern community.”
Case compared to mafia tactics
The brothers made their first appearance in court last week, and each successfully requested a public defender despite protests from a federal prosecutor, who argued that they still have access to scores of stolen federal money stashed abroad.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko said at the first appearances that he would appoint public defenders for the three defendants “for the purposes of the day.” If the government’s arguments prove correct, he said, the government can seek to recoup the money spent on their public defenders.
All three of the brothers have since hired private defense attorneys to represent them.
Ladan pleaded not guilty to the charges in court last week. Federal prosecutors did not seek to detain Ladan, but she was ordered not to leave Minnesota until her case is resolved.
Prosecutors allege that Ladan, who lives in Seattle, dropped off a bag with $120,000 at the juror’s house on June 3, telling a relative that she would receive another bag of money if she voted not guilty.
Prosecutors also allege that Abdulkarim recorded a video of Ladan dropping off the bag and sent it to Said, Abdiaziz and Abdimajid.
Abdimajid’s arraignment in the bribery case has not yet been scheduled.
The charges allege that Said supplied $200,000 total for the bribe. They do not address what happened to the remaining $80,000.
According to the charges: FBI investigators found a list of juror information inside a water bottle in Abdiaziz’s house.
Federal prosecutors allege that the five defendants engaged in a sophisticated plot, researching and tracking the juror before attempting to bribe her. They targeted the 23-year-old Spring Lake Park juror because she was young and the only person of color on the jury.
FBI investigators found a list of talking points for the juror to use in arguing for an acquittal, the charges said. The arguments were found on the defendants’ phones, and largely revolved around painting the Feeding Our Future case as racist against Somalis. Most of the 70 defendants in the case are East African.
“We are immigrants: they don’t respect and care about us,” read one talking point.
“Prejudice against people of color. The Government kept attacking Somali witnesses and asking them if it’s true in the Somali culture to cheat, steal or lie which was very racist,” read another.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger likened the bribery attempt to gangland prosecutions he worked on early in his career as a federal prosecutor in New York in the 1980s and ‘90s.
“The mafia sometimes sought to corrupt juries through intimidation and rivalry,” Luger said last week when announcing the charges. “This form of corruption has now made its way to Minnesota. We must therefore take this threat to our system of justice seriously.”
The fraud in the broader Feeding Our Future case involved the Minnesota Department of Education distributing federal funds to sponsor organizations like Feeding Our Future and Partners in Quality Care. The sponsor organizations then dispersed those funds to food vendors and food sites, which were supposed to provide ready-to-eat meals to local children.
Several organizations reported serving thousands more meals than they actually did, or simply never served any meals at all, in order to receive more federal funds, prosecutors say. Defendants allegedly spent the money on cars, property, vacations and other items.
Prosecutors said $250 million were stolen by suspects using sponsor organizations in Minnesota, and called it the largest pandemic fraud in the country.
