First Prison Sentenced Handed Down For Bribe of Juror in Minnesota Fraud Case

Minneapolis, MN (MinnesotaNow)- A Minneapolis man has been sentenced for his role in a scheme to bribe a juror during a Minnesota fraud trail. 

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He previously entered a guilty plea in the federal case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office of Minnesota announced the sentencing on Thursday.

The bribe occurred in June of 2024 during one of the Feeding Our Future fraud trails. 

25-Year-Old Minneapolis Man Sentenced to Prison for Bribe of Feeding Our Future Juror

Seven defendants were on trial. Two of the defendants on trial were 25-year-old Abdulkarim Shafii Farah’s brother. 

Abdulkarim Farah was accused of conspiring with his brothers and two other individuals to bribe a juror presiding over the fraud trail, described in federal court documents as juror 52, in exchange for a not guilty verdict. 

Farah was alleged to have conducted surveillance on the juror and on the jurors home. He had also sent a map of where the juror had parked during court proceedings, court documents say. 

Farah had recruited Ladan Ali to help with the bribery scheme. On the night of June 2, 2024, Farah drove Ali to the juror’s home for her to deliver a bag containing $120,000 in cash, according to federal court documents. 

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The vehicle was rented in Ali’s name. Court documents also say Ali told the juror there would be more money coming if they returned a not guilty verdict. 

Prior to delivering the bribe, Farah drove to a Target store to purchase a screw driver that was used to remove the license plate from a vehicle Ali rented to avoid detection from law enforcement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says. 

Farah filmed the bribe delivery and sent the video to his brother. The next day, the court became aware of the bribe and Farah deleted the video and messages associated with the bribery scheme, court documents say. 

Farah was sentenced to 57 months in prison to be followed by a year of supervised release on Thursday. He is the first person to be sentenced in the bribery case.