MINNEAPOLIS — Federal Judge Nancy Brasel has scheduled trials for most of the remaining defendants in the Feeding our Future child meal program fraud case. A total of 70 people have been charged in the case. Of those, 18 have pleaded guilty, five have been convicted at trial, two have been acquitted at trial, and one has died — leaving 44 defendants with pending cases.
The next trial is scheduled for Nov. 4 for five defendants — Haji Osman Salad, Sharmarke Isse, Farhiya Mohamud, Kawsar Jamam and Khadra Abdi. The court has set aside six weeks for that trial.
Then the highly-anticipated trial for Aimee Bock, the executive director of the nonprofit Feeding our Future, is scheduled for Feb. 3, 2025. Bock has 11 co-defendants, so Judge Brasel will split the group into three trials of four defendants each. That case is expected to last through May 9. Co-defendant Abdikerm Abdelahi Eidleh is a fugitive believed to be out of the country and is not scheduled for trial.
Mahad Ibrahim was supposed to stand trial with his seven co-defendants this spring, but his case had to be severed because of a scheduling conflict with his attorney. Ibrahim is now scheduled to stand trial April 14.
Two defendants, Ahmed Yasin Ali and Khadar Jigre Adan, are scheduled to stand trial Sept. 8, 2025.
A case involving three defendants is scheduled for Oct. 14, 2025. The defendant at the top of that indictment, Qamar Ahmed Hassan, has already pleaded guilty.
Five defendants including Sharmake Jama at the top of the indictment are scheduled to begin trial on Dec. 1, 2025.
Judge Brasel noted in her order that five defendants' trials have yet to be set — Mekfira and Abduljabar Hussein, Mohamed Muse Noor, Ayan Farah Abukar, and Ikram Yusuf Mohamed. Judge Brasel notes in her order that if the defendants in any of the above scheduled trials plead guilty, then these defendants can be tried in their place.
Besides Eidleh, Judge Brasel wrote that two other defendants are fugitives — Said Ereg and Najmo Ahmed.
