Star Tribune
Judges approve nine Feeding Our Future defendants’ requests to travel outside Minnesota
Federal judges have approved at least nine defendants’ requests to travel outside Minnesota in the sprawling Feeding Our Future meals fraud cases.
It’s a common condition that criminal defendants aren’t allowed to leave the state and have to surrender their passport in order to be released from custody. But in the fraud case, at least nine of the 60 people charged or indicted have gotten permission to leave the state or country, though it doesn’t appear that any of the nine have fled as a result.
“It’s unusual when they’re charged with serious felonies like this to allow them to go out of the state, let alone out of the country,” said Joseph Daly, emeritus professor of law at Mitchell Hamline School of Law. “They’ve convinced the judges that they will return.”
Prosecutors have said the scheme was one of the largest pandemic-related fraud cases in the country, involving more than $250 million. So far, 16 people have pleaded guilty and one defendant died before her case was resolved. The first trials are scheduled for early 2024.
Many defendants are African immigrants, so the international travel requests cite family, religious or businesses abroad.
Jordan Kushner, who represents one defendant who requested to go overseas, said it’s not surprising or unusual that there have been so many travel requests given that most of the cases involve immigrants. Plus, he said, most have no prior criminal history and are facing allegations they played smaller roles in the scheme. They aren’t accused of violent crimes.
“These cases have also gone on a long time,” he said. “I think the travel requests mostly started coming after it was clear the cases wouldn’t be resolved within a year. … It’s not unusual and it’s certainly not out of line for the judges to grant these requests.”
Some federal judges wouldn’t sign off on requests to leave the country due to the risk a defendant might flee, Daly said, but the judges on these cases are experienced and must have reason to believe they’ll return.
“It’s a judgment call,” he added.
While authorities were investigating, some other targets in the sprawling case traveled or tried to travel overseas.
No new charges have been filed since last March. As of then, the federal government had seized more than $66 million in the case.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture funds the meals program, reimbursing nonprofits and schools for providing meals to low-income children outside of school or during the summer. Many new food sites tied to the nonprofit Feeding Our Future,emerged during the pandemic when oversight rules were loosened.
Prosecutors said little to no meals were served to children in need, and instead many defendants submitted attendance rosters with fake names and pocketed the money to buy new cars or luxury homes. They said the scheme also involved a tangled web of bribes and kickbacks, with defendants creating shell companies to launder the money.
Travel requests approved
On Dec. 8, U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel approved Yusuf Bashir Ali’s request to leave Minnesota Dec. 10 and return Jan. 31, to visit an uncle in Kenya with terminal lung cancer. He pleaded guilty in September to wire fraud and could face 21 to 27 months in prison.
His attorney, Kevin Riach wrote in court documents that he has no reason to flee because he has a wife and four children in Minnesota and has attended all his court hearings. Federal prosecutors didn’t take a position on the request, but probation officers voiced concerns about the length of the trip.
Other travel requests:
Bekam Addissu Merdassa: Brasel granted Merdassa permission to travel at the end of 2022 to London to visit family, returning in January. In March, Brasel allowed him to temporarily move to Ethiopia before sentencing. Merdassa, who has pleaded guilty, cited his inability to get a job in Minnesota as he awaits sentencing. He could face 24 to 30 months in prison.
Ahmed Abdullahi Ghedi: In March, U.S. District Judge Tony Leung approved Ghedi’s request to move to Texas before his trial. Ghedi argued in court documents that, as a Somali-American, he needed to move out of state because he’s been spurned and isolated by Minnesota’s close-knit Somali community due to the allegations, unwelcome at his own mosque and unable to get a job.
Khadar Adan: In July, Leung approved Adan’s request to travel to Turkey, Kenya and Ethiopia, where he owns properties, returning in mid-August. Leung also approved Adan’s request to travel to those countries in September and October for business. Prosecutors didn’t oppose either request. His attorney, William Mauzy, said Adan has returned to Minnesota.
Qamar Ahmed Hassan: Leung granted Hassan permission to travel to Chicago to visit her aunt last April. Then Brasel approved Hassan’s request to travel for three days to Seattle in September for a wedding. She returned to Minnesota, her attorney, Beth Forsythe, said. Prosecutors didn’t object to either request. Hassan pleaded guilty in August and could face 41 to 63 months in prison.
Sahra Mohamed Nur: Brasel approved Nur’s request in September to travel to Saudi Arabia and Somalia in October and November. Nur, 63, who pleaded guilty to charges and faces a possible sentence of 51 to 63 months in prison, said she wanted to visit her family and complete a pilgrimage to Mecca. Prosecutors didn’t oppose the request. Her attorney A.L. Brown declined to comment when asked if she has returned to Minnesota.
Asad Mohamed Abshir: In July, Leung approved Abshir’s request to travel to Turkey in September to visit his wife and children, returning in early October. Prosecutors didn’t oppose it. His attorney, Doug Olson, said Abshir returned to Minnesota, but no trial date has been set yet.
Liban Alishire: Brasel approved Alishire’s request to travel to Kenya this month to sell properties he owns to meet $700,000 in restitution he owes. Prosecutors opposed it, saying there weren’t conditions to ensure he would return for sentencing. Brasel approved 30 days of travel, not the 60-day trip Alishire sought. Brasel also approved his travel requests to visit California and Washington earlier this year. Alishire, who pleaded guilty to charges, could face 41 to 51 months in prison.
Ahmed Yasin Ali: In November, Brasel approved Ali’s request to travel to Somalia and India between Nov. 29 and Jan. 29 to help his brother, who lives in Somalia and was diagnosed with cancer, receive chemotherapy in India. Prosecutors opposed the request. Kushner, Ali’s attorney, said in court documents that Ali has lived in the U.S. since 1996 and has no reason to flee before his March trial and shouldn’t be treated differently from other defendants who had their travel requests approved.
Not all travel requests have been approved. In March, Leung denied Ayan Abukar’s request to travel to Kenya to visit her grandmother and husband, and in September he denied Sharmarke Issa’s request to travel abroad.
Two men are dead and one woman was injured in a shooting at a homeless encampment in south Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon, police said. It was the second shooting at a Minneapolis encampment this weekend.
At about 2:20 p.m. Sunday, police responded to a reported shooting in the 4400 block of Snelling Avenue near the railroad tracks at the small encampment between Snelling and Hiawatha avenues. At the scene, officers found two men with fatal gunshot wounds, said Sgt. Garrett Parten Minneapolis Police spokesman. Responders rendered aid, but both men died at the scene.
A woman was found at the scene with life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital where she was being treated Sunday night, he said. Police have yet to say whether the three were living at the encampment.
Officers detained three people, who Parten said have since been released after police found they were not believed to be involved in the shooting. No suspects had been identified as of 6:30 p.m. Sunday.
The shooting is the second at a southside homeless encampment this weekend. One man died and two were critically injured early Saturday at an encampment shooting near E. 21st Street and 15th Avenue S. On Sunday, the man was identified as Deven Leonard Caston, 31, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“We don’t know if there’s a connection between this homeless encampment shooting and the one that occurred yesterday,” Parten said on Sunday. “That is a consideration of the investigation. We can’t rule it out.”
Ward 12 Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, who represents the area and lives nearby, was at the site of the shooting Sunday afternoon. She said officials need information about what happened to better understand how to address situations like this long-term.
“This is an absolute tragedy, and this type of violence should never occur within our city,” she said. “It really makes me think about how we need to look at this more systemically and not just take a whack-a-mole approach and expect the problem to go away.
During Sunday’s Twitch stream, Walz and Ocasio-Cortez played Madden while discussing making homebuying more accessible, building affordable housing, eliminating student loan debt and raising the federal minimum wage.
After the match, Walz showed off his Sega skills in a round of “Crazy Taxi,” the Y2K-era racing game where gamers play as a taxi driver picking up passengers and taking them to their destination for cash.
Walz called himself a “first-generation gamer” and recalled playing “Crazy Taxi” when he bought a Sega Dreamcast. He also mentioned the Minnesota Star Tribune’s coverage of how his old game console was sold and ended up with a Plymouth resident, who still has it.
Afterward, Walz and Ocasio-Cortez watched a short clip of Trump denying on Rogan’s podcast that he lost the 2020 presidential election. Democrat Joe Biden won that year.
Ocasio-Cortez during the livestream also showed viewers her farm on the cozy, indie game Stardew Valley. Walz said the game reminded him of Minnesota: “You’ve got mining,” he said. “You’ve got agriculture. You’ve got snow.”
Before Walz headed out to a rally in Nevada, he pleaded with viewers to vote. More than 12,000 viewers tuned into the livestream on Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitch channel. More watched from Harris’ channel.
”Hey guys, they’re now scrambling and trying to call us Nazis and fascists,” said Alina Habba, one of Trump’s attorneys, who draped a sparkly ”MAGA” jacket over the lectern as she spoke. ”And you know what they’re claiming, guys? It’s very scary. They’re claiming we’re going to go after them and try and put them in jail. Well, ain’t that rich?”
Declared Hogan in his characteristic raspy growl: ”I don’t see no stinkin’ Nazis in here.”
Trump has denounced the four criminal indictments brought against him as politically motivated. He has ramped up his denunciations in recent weeks of ”enemies from within,” naming domestic political rivals, and suggested he would use the military to go after them. Harris, in turn, has called Trump a ”fascist.”
The arena was full hours before Trump was scheduled to speak. Outside the arena, the sidewalks were overflowing with Trump supporters in red ”Make America Great Again” hats. There was a heavy security presence. Streets were blocked off and access to Penn Station was restricted.
In the crowd was Philip D’Agostino, a longtime Trump backer from Queens, the borough where Trump grew up. The 64-year-old said it was appropriate for Trump to be speaking at a place bills itself as ”the world’s most famous arena.”
”It just goes to show ya that he has a bigger following of any man that has ever lived,” D’Agostino said.
