Five Indicted in Feeding Our Future Jury Bribery Scheme

Five defendants have been indicted for their roles in a conspiracy to bribe a juror in the Feeding Our Future trial. 

According to U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger, seven defendants, During the trial, Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, 35, of Savage, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, 23, of Shakopee, Said Shafii Farah, 42, of Minneapolis, Abdulkarim Shafii Farah, 24, of Minneapolis, and Ladan Mohamed Ali, 31, of Seattle, Washington, went to trial before U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel for their roles in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme. According to court documents, the defendants conspired with each other to provide a cash bribe of $120,000 to one of the jurors in exchange for the juror returning a not guilty verdict in the trial.

The conspirators decided to target Juror 52 because she was the youngest juror, and they believed her to be the only juror of color. The conspirators conducted online research to obtain Juror 52’s personal information, including her home address and information about her background and family members. They also stalked the juror, conducting surveillance to obtain information about her daily habits. One of the conspirators purchased a GPS tracking device to covertly install on Juror 52’s vehicle in order to track her movements.

As part of the scheme, the conspirators obtained approximately $200,000 in cash to be delivered and paid to Juror 52 as a bribe in exchange for a not guilty verdict in the trial. The conspirators drafted a list of instructions for the juror that included directions for her to vote “NOT GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS FOR ALL DEFENDANTS” and to “convince all the remaining jurors to mark NOT GUILTY for all defendants and all counts.” The conspirators compiled a list of “arguments to convince other jurors,” many of which appeared designed to convince Juror 52 that the prosecution was motivated by racial animus.