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Food advocate pleads guilty in Feeding our Future fraud
Sharon Ross was the executive director of House of Refuge, a Saint Paul food shelf. She admits stealing $2.4 million from the pandemic meal program meant for kids.
MINNEAPOLIS — In her career, 53-year-old Sharon Ross was so involved with food outreach in the Twin Cities, that she contacted her State Senator Sandy Pappas to help her Saint Paul nonprofit House of Refuge gain approval as a food site for children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amid red flags, the Minnesota Department of Education had already stopped approving meal sites sponsored by Feeding our Future.
But after visiting House of Refuge in Spring 2021 and seeing some meals being prepared, Senator Pappas vouched for the organization and it gained approval as 143 other applicants sat in limbo.
Ross now admits that from that point on, she scammed the federal child nutrition program out of $2.4 million– providing money to family members and buying a house in Willernie.
The feds are seizing the home as part of Ross’ guilty plea to wire fraud – as Ross is ordered to pay back the money.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged 60 people in the Feeding our Future scheme, which prosecutors call the largest pandemic fraud in the United States with $250 million in federal child nutrition funds stolen.
Of the 60 charged, 17 have now pleaded guilty.
That includes Sharon Ross’ accomplice Hanna Marekegn who ran the Brava Cafe in Minneapolis. All told, Marekegn stole $5 million. In Ross’ scheme, Marekegn claimed to provide the food that Ross claimed to serve to kids, including 300,000 alleged meals in September 2021 alone.
They admit the number is fraudulent and inflated but their schemes differed from many of the others who didn’t even have a real restaurant or food shelf.
With Ross’ guilty plea, the first trial for two Feeding our Future defendants is scheduled for March.
But the most notable defendant, Aimee Bock, will be in court next month trying to get her charges dismissed. Bock– the executive director of Feeding our Future — is accused of receiving kickbacks by signing up fraudulent meal sites. But she claims Feeding our Future simply received administrative fees and she did not profit.
Bock and 42 other defendant’s cases are still pending as several of them have been granted permission to travel overseas. KARE 11 News confirmed that Liban Alishire, who has already pleaded guilty, returned from Kenya last week where he was allowed to facilitate the sale of a resort he bought with stolen meal money.
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At least one of the sites was immediately cleared in response to the shootings.
MINNEAPOLIS — By Monday afternoon, there wasn’t a tent in site along the railroad tracks off of E 44th St between Hiawatha and Snelling Avenues. There was only some leftover crime tape.
Just 24 hours prior, two men were killed and a woman was critically hurt in a triple shooting there.
Sunday, a neighbor told KARE what started with one tent in August grew in recent weeks. Police Chief Brian O’Hara and Mayor Jacob Frey held a press conference that day.
“The Third Precinct, this part of the city, has the greatest concentration of homeless encampments so it remains a very serious public safety issue,” O’Hara said. “As soon as these encampments move in, we have a significant increase in crime in the general area and once we’re able to clear them, crime generally does go down.”
Monday, a City of Minneapolis spokesperson confirmed the encampment was “closed earlier today” and that “debris was cleared” from a smaller encampment where yet another triple shooting occurred early Saturday morning.
This one was near E 21st St and 15th Ave S. Three men were shot and one of them died.
Monday afternoon, there was a small fire going and a couple of adults seated outside. A memorial was also placed beside the fencing. The city says there weren’t any structures to remove from the location.
Frey’s office confirmed the immediate closure of the E 44th St encampment was a result of the shootings. However, there were prior discussions about closing it in the near future.
The Mayor’s Office sent KARE 11 the following statement Monday evening:
“The tragic and unacceptable loss of life at homeless encampments underscores the need for immediate action. Encampments are plagued by fentanyl abuse, drug trafficking, and gun violence, and they do not provide a dignified way to live—not for encampment residents and not for the neighbors in surrounding communities.”
“As new encampments form, we are committed to closing them while continuously offering shelter, addiction recovery resources, and support to our homeless residents.”
– Office of Mayor Jacob Frey
A city spokesperson also sent a statement saying the “Minneapolis Homeless Response Team is working right now with the Minneapolis Police Department, Hennepin County and other service providers to offer unsheltered individuals at both locations the necessary resources, services and shelter.”
“We want to help our residents find suitable arrangements in the most supportive and humane way we can. All of our Minneapolis residents deserve better,” the statement continued.
A police spokesperson confirmed no arrests have been made in either case.
The suspect was 17 at the time of the shooting, but he was charged as an adult.
A St. Paul man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, more than two years after a drive-by shooting left a 17-year-old dead.
Casimir Semlak, of St. Paul, was charged with shooting 17-year-old Anthony Skelley in May 2022 during an apparent drug deal in South St. Paul. Police say a search of Skelley’s cell phone uncovered that the last number he was in communication with was linked to the suspect.
Semlak was also 17 at the time but was charged in the adult court system.
Following his death, family members told KARE 11 in a statement that Skelley was a junior attending St. Paul Public Schools’ Gateway to College program, and had “a beautiful soul with a cheerful presence and a joyful spirit.”
Semlak will be sentenced in January 2025.
The Moorhead Police Department said Paige Reinke was last seen Sunday wearing a blue sweatshirt and gray sweatpants.
MOORHEAD, Minn. — Officials are asking for the public’s help locating a 17-year-old Moorhead girl that is believed to be endangered.
According to the Moorhead Police Department, Paige Reinke was last seen Sunday near the 2600 block of River Drive North wearing a blue sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) describes her as 5-foot-4, 155 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Moorhead Police Department at 701-451-7660.
