Posted on 07/27/2026 7:02:04 PM PDT by Morgana
ringleader in Minnesota’s massive Feeding Our Future scandal has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for attempting to purchase a not-guilty verdict with a staggering $120,000 cash bribe.
Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, 37, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud for his role in the brazen plot to bribe a federal juror during his 2024 fraud trial, the Justice Department announced Friday.
Farah had already been sentenced to 28 years in prison for helping steal tens of millions of dollars from a taxpayer-funded program intended to feed needy children during the COVID pandemic.
But stealing from hungry children apparently was not enough.
When Farah and six co-defendants went on trial in April 2024, prosecutors said Farah and his associates researched Juror 52 online, obtained her address, surveilled her home, and tracked her movements.
On the night of June 2, 2024, a woman identified by prosecutors as Ladan Mohamed Ali arrived at the juror’s home carrying a white Hallmark gift bag stuffed with rolls of $100, $50, and $20 bills.
Inside was $120,000 in cash.
The woman reportedly handed the bag to one of the juror’s relatives and instructed the relative to tell Juror 52 to vote “not guilty” the following day. More money would follow if she helped acquit the defendants.
But Juror 52 could not be bought. She immediately called 911 and surrendered the cash to law enforcement.
The attempted payoff sent the federal courthouse into lockdown. All seven defendants were taken back into custody, their cellphones were confiscated, and the remaining jurors were sequestered.
The Gateway Pundit previously reported on the stunning bribery attempt in June 2024.
Prosecutors later revealed that Farah factory-reset his iPhone after being ordered to surrender it, attempting to destroy messages and video evidence connected to the bribe.
Five defendants were ultimately indicted in the juror-bribery conspiracy. All five eventually pleaded guilty.
Five of the seven defendants in the underlying fraud trial were also convicted of participating in a $40 million branch of the sprawling Feeding Our Future operation. Two were acquitted.
The scandal unfolded under Minnesota Democrat Governor Tim Walz, whose Department of Education administered the federal nutrition programs exploited by the fraudsters.
A nonpartisan legislative audit later concluded that the department’s “inadequate oversight” created opportunities for fraud, failed to act on known warning signs, and failed to hold Feeding Our Future accountable. The devastating audit found that the department was woefully unprepared to confront the organization.
“Justice is not for sale,” U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said following Farah’s sentencing.
An honest juror did what Minnesota’s bloated bureaucracy repeatedly failed to do: She recognized corruption and immediately took action.
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Thank you, Juror 52. One honest person in a nest of corruption.
You know who else is connected with Feeding Our Future?
The wife of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
@greg_geiger
Yes, Mayor Jacob Frey’s wife, Sarah Clarke (also known as Sarah Stephens Frey), worked as a lobbyist at Hylden Advocacy & Law, a firm led by Nancy Hylden that represented Feeding Our Future (often referred to as “Feed Our Future”) as its attorney and lobbyist. Nancy Hylden appeared in federal court alongside Feeding Our Future’s executive director, Aimee Bock, following the FBI raids in January 2022 that exposed the massive COVID-19 relief fraud scheme involving over $250 million in misappropriated federal child nutrition funds.
Key Details on the Connection
• Sarah Clarke’s Role: Clarke was employed at Hylden Advocacy & Law until January 2022, representing nonprofits, businesses, and community organizations before the Minnesota legislature and executive agencies. The firm’s work included lobbying on behalf of Feeding Our Future, which was listed in the organization’s annual reports filed with the Minnesota Attorney General as far back as 2019.
• Timing of Departure: Clarke left the firm in January 2022, coinciding with the FBI raids on Feeding Our Future’s offices and related sites. Critics, including local activists and journalists, have questioned whether this timing suggests foreknowledge or influence from Frey’s connections, such as his reported friendship with U.S. Attorney Andy Luger (who oversaw the federal indictments). However, no charges have been filed against Clarke, Frey, or Nancy Hylden, and Frey has denied any personal awareness of the fraud.
• Firm’s Involvement: Hylden Advocacy & Law’s tagline is “your friend at the Capitol,” and it has lobbied extensively for clients tied to Minnesota’s political establishment, including support for figures like Attorney General Keith Ellison and Governor Tim Walz. Feeding Our Future paid the firm for legal and advocacy services, which helped the nonprofit push back against state oversight from the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) before the fraud was uncovered
Frey, Ellison, and Omar are key players in the fraud pyramid. Walz, Flanagan, Klobuchar, Craig, and others are also up to their necks in the scam.
Time for a whole bunch of MN/DFL crooks to do some time.
“Brazen $120,000 Juror-Bribery Plot That Triggered Arrest of All Seven Trial Defendants”
that usually works like a charm in most Mideast locales ...
Agreed with one exception. Governor Walz is a victim of metastatic malignant turbo stupidity so I give him the benefit of the doubt but really think he is corrupt to the bone. His aides would have told him if he really did not know. HE KNEW!
Never gonna happen in DC, NYC, or any number of leftist third-world hellholes.
Can (at least) these involved criminal sociopaths be placed in stocks daily for a few years so the population can throw rotten garbage at them...at least?
Still ZERO arrests.
34 BILLION a year for DOJ and still ZERO ARRESTS!
Pathetic, cowardly and shameful.
We an hope the federal prison serves lots of pork products.
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