You know that old saying about digging yourself out of a hole? Well, one guy in Minnesota apparently heard it as "keep digging" and really committed to the bit. Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, a central player in the massive Feeding Our Future fraud scandal, just got slapped with an additional 10 years in federal prison for attempting to purchase a not guilty verdict with cold hard cash, as The American Tribune reported. That brings his grand total to 38 years behind bars. Chef's kiss for decision making.
Chief U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud went ahead and handed down the maximum penalty on Wednesday in St. Paul, plus three years of supervised release afterward. The judge told Farah it would be difficult to conceive of a more egregious bribery case. Which is honestly a pretty impressive distinction when you think about it. This guy is setting records nobody wants.
So here's how this brilliant scheme went down. During the first federal trial connected to Feeding Our Future, about seven weeks into proceedings, Farah and his crew decided to offer $120,000 to a juror. They picked Juror 52 because she was the panel's youngest member and appeared to be its sole person of color. Real sophisticated targeting there, folks.
The delivery method? They stuffed $120,000 into a Hallmark gift bag. Nothing says "totally normal and legal transaction" quite like a greeting card store bag bulging with six figures. One of the conspirators, Ladan Mohamed Ali, handed the bag to a relative of the juror and literally told them it was payment for a not guilty verdict, with promises of even more cash if the juror could convince everyone else to acquit all seven defendants.
But wait, there's more! Another co-conspirator sat in a car filming the whole delivery like some kind of criminal documentary crew, then sent the footage to Farah. He forwarded it through an encrypted app with the instruction "watch and delete." Pro tip for aspiring criminals: if you have to tell someone to delete evidence, maybe rethink your life choices.
When prosecutors exposed the scheme in court the next morning and the judge ordered phones surrendered, Farah immediately factory reset his iPhone, wiping out messages, video, and other evidence. Because that definitely doesn't look suspicious at all.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Murphy described how the group researched the juror, tracked her movements, found her home, and tried contacting her family. He called it "chilling," which feels like an understatement.
Let's not forget what started all of this. Farah and his associates stole over $47 million by fabricating claims that they had served 18 million meals to children at more than 30 supposed distribution locations during the pandemic. Farah personally took home over $8 million, spending taxpayer dollars on luxury cars and millions in real estate across Minnesota, Kentucky, and Kenya.
Farah told the court before sentencing, "I regret it every day." Judge Tostrud was unmoved, calling the bribery plot a coordinated assault on the justice system and ruling that every single day of those 10 new years would be served after the original 28 year sentence wraps up. So he'll have plenty of days to keep regretting.
Read more American news stories at: The American Tribune
