MINNEAPOLIS — Editor’s note: The video above first aired on KARE 11 in July 2024.

The defendants charged in the $120,000 juror bribe attempt during the Feeding our Future meal fraud trial waited anxiously the next morning to see if the juror showed up in court, thinking that if she did, that meant she was “all-in.”

That’s according to a court document filed Monday by prosecutors in the case. But when lead prosecutor Joe Thompson announced the bribe, the document said the defendants immediately began deleting messaging apps on their phones.

Thompson filed the new document in an attempt to add information to the presentence report of Mukhtar Shariff, who was convicted in the meal fraud trial, but until now, was not implicated in the bribe scheme. 

“Since the issuance of the final presentence investigation, the government has learned that defendant Shariff knew about the bribery attempt and destroyed communications he had with his co-defendant Abdiaziz Farah about the bribe,” the document said. “But despite Shariff’s attempt to destroy these communications, FBI Computer Analysis and Response Team members were able to recover the notifications of incoming messages on Shariff’s phone as well as Abdimajid Nur and Said Farah’s phones.”

Ladan Ali has already pleaded guilty to her role in the bribery plot, dropping off the bag of money at the home of the woman referred to as “Juror 52.” Ali said she initially planned to steal the money for herself but was not able to because one of her co-defendants allegedly came with her at the last minute to video record her delivering the bribe.

Messages recovered from Shariff’s phone showed his co-defendants allegedly asked how to clean up the video of the bribe since it was raining outside and looked blurry. 

Court documents also revealed messages from the alleged mastermind of the bribe plot that night, Abdiaziz Farah, to Shariff:

• 10:26 p.m. from Abdiaziz to Shariff: “100 for our freedom is nothing bro, worth trying everything bro” 
• 10:29 p.m. from Abdiaziz to Shariff: “That’s it bro. I have a good feeling she will come through and that’s a lot of money for her family.”

Then Farah makes reference to the federal judge presiding over their case, Nancy Brasel:

• 11:01 p.m. from Abdiaziz to Shariff: “Get some sleep man. You got judge Nancy . . . waiting for you” 
• 11:08 p.m. from Abdiaziz to Shariff: “Ameen bro. She is a terrible human being. My wife and siblings stopped coming to court coz they couldn’t stand her” 
• 11:14 p.m. from Abdiaziz to Shariff: “She is still a G employee who is jealous of all of us. InshaAllah it will be smooth bro! Goodnight bro.” 

The morning Thompson announced the bribe and asked for the defendants to be taken into custody, Thompson noticed several of them immediately grab their cell phones. FBI analysis determined that Shariff uninstalled and deleted the Signal encrypted messaging app from his iPhone at 8:43 a.m., according to the court document.

Shariff’s sentencing date is not currently scheduled. Prosecutors are asking for 21 years in prison.

HINCKLEY, Minn. — A man in Pine County is charged with murder after authorities say he shot his father at a hunting cabin last week. 

The victim of the Nov. 14 fatal shooting has been identified as Kirk Edward Hazlett II, who died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to charges filed Monday.

His son, Kirk Edward Hazlett III, faces multiple felony charges for his role in his father’s ‘execution style’ shooting death at a family hunting cabin in Hinckley, Minn.

According to the criminal complaint, Hazlett II, his brother and another male were staying at the cabin while hunting. Prior to the shooting, a trail cam on the property alerted them that Hazlett III was approaching with a gun in hand. Hazlett III then ‘busted through’ a cabin door and began firing at his father before the other men could react. 

Hazlett III shot his father multiple times in the upper body before standing over his father and shooting him in the head ‘execution style’, according to a witness account of the shooting. “He entered with a mission… he entered to kill him,” the witness told police.

The criminal complaint notes a strained relationship between the father and son, with Hazlett II’s brother saying the two hadn’t been getting along for a long time. Hazlett III had been trespassed from the property a month earlier after police were called to the property for a dispute between the two.

The two witnesses who saw the shooting unfold, fearing he would kill them next, were able to convince Hazlett III to let them go after surrendering their phones. When Hazlett III let them leave, they were able to run to a neighbor who helped call 911.

Police located Hazlett III later at his Cambridge, Minn. residence where they took him into custody.

Hazlett III is currently in Pine County Jail and made his first court appearance Monday.

MINNEAPOLIS — Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it’s time to start planning your big feast.

Cooks | Bellecour restaurants offer dishes that you can not only pick up ready to go, but also create on your own.

Pastry Chef Katie Elsing joined KARE 11 News at Noon to show off some of her favorite sweet treats.

In 2023, Twin Cities cooking school and culinary shop, Cooks of Crocus Hill and Gavin Kaysen’s Bellecour Bakery merged to form a single brand: Cooks | Bellecour. 

Cooks Bellecour has locations in St. Paul, Minneapolis’ North Loop, and Edina.