A Minneapolis man will spend nearly five years behind bars for attempting to bribe a juror during a federal trial related to Minnesota’s infamous $250 million welfare fraud scandal.
Abdulkarim Farah, 25, was sentenced by District Court Judge Eric Tostrud Wednesday to 57 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release for his role in providing a bribe – in the form of a gift bag full of $120,000 in cash – to a juror in the first Feeding Our Future trial.
In April 2024, two of Farah’s brothers were set to stand trial in the massive pandemic fraud case, when the trio hatched a plan to bribe Juror 52 in an effort to secure a not guilty verdict, according to federal prosecutors.
Farah’s brothers were among dozens of predominantly Somali co-conspirators accused of stealing pandemic relief funds from a federal program meant to feed hungry children in need.
As part of their bribery plot, Farah “conducted surveillance” of Juror 52 and then recruited co-defendant Ladan Ali to deliver the bribe.
Farah unscrewed the license plates off a rental car – “to avoid detection by law enforcement” – before he drove Ali to the juror’s home on the night of June 2, 2024, and recorded a video of her delivering the bribe, prosecutors said, citing Farah’s plea agreement.
The Post previously reported that a Hallmark gift bag containing $120,000 cash and a note promising even more money if Juror 52 voted to acquit was delivered to her home just a few hours before closing arguments in the case.
An FBI affidavit said the Hallmark gift bag the juror received was stuffed with rolls of $20, $50 and $100 bills, and the note read, “This is for Juror 52,” The New York Times reported. “Tell her there will be another bag for her if she votes to acquit.”
The juror told the judge about the bribery attempt the following day.
Farah, who had sent the video of Ali delivering the gift bag to one of his brothers on trial, “uninstalled and deleted the encrypted messaging app Signal from his iPhone” after the bribery attempt was discussed in court.
Farah’s 57-month sentence is at the high end of federal sentencing guidelines, according to the Minnesota US Attorney’s Office.
At Farah’s sentencing, the judge praised Juror 52 for “resisting the temptation to accept the very substantial bribe” and declared that “properly functioning juries are the core of our criminal justice system.”
