Fourth defendant pleads guilty in brazen plot to bribe juror in Feeding Our Future trial

A man already convicted in the massive Feeding Our Future fraud case just added another felony to his rap sheet—this time for trying to bribe a juror in his own trial.

Abdiaziz Farah, 36, of Savage, pleaded guilty this week to one count of bribery of a juror, admitting that he helped orchestrate a secretive—and ultimately doomed—plot to sway the jury with cash.

The plot unraveled thanks to Juror 52, who, according to prosecutors, could not be bought.

“The attempted bribery of a Feeding Our Future juror sent shockwaves throughout Minnesota,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson in a press release. “Abdiaziz Farah did what few criminal defendants have ever had the audacity to do—he and his co-conspirators tried to buy a not guilty verdict. They were thwarted by Juror 52, who could not be bought, and by the excellent work of law enforcement. Farah and all involved in this despicable scheme will be held to account.”

A surreal subplot

According to federal investigators, the plot began in the middle of the first Feeding Our Future trial that started in April of 2024.

As testimony was unfolding in court, Farah and four others—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—were secretly working to bribe one of the jurors, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

They chose Juror 52, who they surveilled at home. Farah worked with the others to pool together bribe money.

On the morning of June 2, 2024, Farah messaged his brother Said via an encrypted messaging app: “[p]lease have the money ready by 10 please. It’s very important for everything we have.”

Later that day, co-defendant Nur picked up the cash from Said’s business, Bushra Wholesalers, before it was handed off to Ali for delivery.

But apparently, trust was in short supply among the conspirators.

Skeptical of Ali, the group instructed Abdulkarim Farah to not only drive her to the juror’s home but to document the moment on video. They even stopped at a Target on the way to buy a screwdriver to remove Ali’s license plate in an attempt to avoid detection.

At 8:50 p.m., Ali delivered a gift bag full of cash to a relative of Juror 52, promising more money if the juror voted to acquit. Abdulkarim captured it all on video, which was then sent to Abdiaziz Farah and forwarded to Said with the instruction: “watch and delete.”

The next day in court, prosecutors revealed the bribery attempt. And just minutes after Judge Nancy Brasel ordered Farah to hand over his phone, he performed a factory reset to wipe it clean.

Now facing sentencing

Farah entered his guilty plea on June 17 before U.S. District Judge David Doty. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

“Juror bribery is an attack on the integrity of our justice system,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. “Farah’s actions directly undermined the rule of law.”

The case is part of the broader Feeding Our Future scandal, a $250 million fraud scheme involving the misuse of federal child nutrition funds. Farah was previously convicted of fraud after the first Feeding Our Future trial. The broader investigation is ongoing.

The bribery probe was led by the FBI with help from IRS-Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

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