Two of the seven defendants on a federal fraud trial in Minnesota have ignored a court order to return a list of personal information about jurors in a case where they were allegedly offered cash bribes in exchange for acquittals, a lawyer for one of the defendants claims.
All of the defendants, their lawyers and prosecutors had access to the list provided by the court in April when their trial over alleged misuse of COVID-19 relief funds began, the officials said.
The judge ordered the defendants to return the jury rolls once jury selection was completed at the end of April, but two of the defendants did not, Andrew Moring, one of the lawyers representing Mukhtar Mohammed Sharif, said in court documents on Thursday.
He said the numbers on the two missing lists did not match the lists given to his client’s legal team.
Moring said Sharif and his lawyers had returned the jury roll, adding that his client “did not write down or record the names of any jurors.”
A spokesman for the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota confirmed the order to return the list but declined to comment on Morling’s argument. Lawyers for the other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The seven defendants are accused of misusing millions of dollars meant to feed children during the pandemic. The others are Abdiaziz Shafi’i Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimadjid Mohamed Noor, Saeed Shafi’i Farah, Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin and Hayat Mohamed Noor.
The federal fraud trial, which began April 22, is the first trial into the alleged $250 million COVID-19 relief plan and is the largest of its kind, according to prosecutors.
According to the criminal complaint, the defendants collectively received more than $40 million between April 2020 and January 2022 in federal child nutrition program funds designed to provide free nutritious meals to children and low-income families.
The defendants claimed they used the funds to feed millions of children, but prosecutors said they used much of the money to buy multiple homes, real estate and luxury vehicles.
The defendants are charged with multiple felony counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud, federal program bribery and money laundering.
The trial lasted six weeks and more than 30 witnesses testified.
On the eve of the verdict Sunday night, one juror said a woman delivered a gift bag full of cash to be left with a relative, according to an FBI search warrant affidavit. The juror’s name has not been released, but the visitor knew the woman’s name and told the relative “there are more presents tomorrow” if the juror agreed to vote not guilty, the affidavit said.
On Monday, after a juror reported the suspected bribery attempt to the court and police and was dismissed from the trial, U.S. District Judge Nancy Brazel ordered the defendants to turn over their cellphones, and all seven were taken into custody.
In his detention order filed Thursday, Judge Brazell said it was “more likely than not” that at least one of the defendants was involved in the bribery attempt.
In court filings, Sharif’s lawyers asked that his client be released from custody while a sequestered jury continues deliberating until Friday. It was unclear whether the request was granted. Sharif’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
On Tuesday, Frederick Goetz, another lawyer for Sharif, told NBC News that his client was “not involved in the case at all.”
The FBI said its investigation into the bribery allegations is ongoing and declined to provide or confirm any further information. The bureau said Wednesday it had “visited” Savage, Minnesota, to conduct court-authorized law enforcement activities. At least three of the defendants have purchased homes in Savage, according to the indictment.
Sharif’s home was not the target of the FBI search this week, his lawyers said in court documents.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota declined to comment on the jury tampering investigation.
Jury tampering is a felony that carries lengthy prison sentences, including up to 20 years in prison, in some cases, Brazell said.
The seven defendants are among 70 people charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota in a massive fraud scheme involving the nonprofit group Feeding Our Future. Eighteen have pleaded guilty, authorities said.
Feeding Our Future was a participating sponsor of the federal child nutrition program. Prosecutors said employees of the nonprofit recruited individuals and organizations to open federal child nutrition program sites throughout Minnesota. Feeding Our Future received and spent about $3.4 million in federal funds in 2019, an amount that increased to about $200 million in 2021, prosecutors said.
