MINNEAPOLIS — The Feeding Our Future fraud case is already massive in both scope and substance, and tomorrow it takes another step forward.
Four of the 49 people who have already been charged by federal prosecutors, are expected to plead guilty for their alleged roles in a scheme that - prosecutors say - amounted to more than $250 million taken from a program that was supposed to feed hungry kids during the pandemic.
"This is really not just one huge conspiracy, but it's a set of conspiracies," said University of St Thomas law professor, and former federal prosecutor, Mark Osler. "The bulk of the investigation has been done, but it doesn't mean it's completed. We can tell the way this is headed, but there's a lot more that can still happen."
Osler says the guilty pleas on Thursday could prove pivotal to the next phase of the investigation.
Osler: "When we see the pleas come in, part of what some of us will look for is whether the plea agreements are under seal, or there are other things filed under seal because that can indicate that people are cooperating with the government."
Erdahl: "Is that what these federal investigators are really after?"
Osler: "Yes, what the federal investigators want is the whole story, and part of what they need to show is state of mind - what people thought, or knew or agreed to - and sometimes that's pretty hard to do until you've got testimony coming in from people who were involved."
As those details slowly begin to emerge in court, new questions are arising in public, surrounding other food sites connected to the same federal program that was allegedly exploited by Feeding Our Future.
A story first reported by the Minnesota Reformer revealed that the wife of Minneapolis City Council Member Jamal Osman launched a nonprofit that reported feeding 2,500 children per day.
So far, Osman is not answering questions on the topic, but neither he nor his wife have been charged with a crime or accused of wrongdoing.
"I'm not going to make too much of it because there is so much that is going on beyond what the public can view," Osler said when asked about the new report. "As a former federal prosecutor, I know that a lot of what I knew was much more - and sometimes much less - than what the public thought that they knew. It could be that there's a lot of evidence against any one individual that they want to complete the loop, or it could be that there's nothing there, and it's hard to tell from the outside.
From what I've seen so far, this is a very well-run investigation. The truth will come out and those who are responsible, I think, are going to be charged. Whether that includes public servants or not, we'll see, but if they're involved, I'm confident that, in the end, we'll see them in court."
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