6 Feeding Our Future defendants request to move trial to Chicago

The always-alert Lou Raguse of KARE-11 noticed the filing made last Thursday in Federal court. The motion to move the trial to the District of Northern Illinois was joined by six of the eight individuals (defendants Nos. 15 through 22) indicted as part of the alleged Empire Cuisine scheme. Much of the motion’s arguments hinge on the amount of pre-trial publicity garnered by the case.

The motion was joined by six of the eight defendants under the Empire Cuisine indictment, all except the brother and sister with the last name of Nur.

The lead attorney for the group filing the motion lists seven media pieces to back up his argument. I have only heard of four of the outlets mentioned, and, alas, your humble correspondent is not among them.

Local outlets include Fox 9 for this piece, the local Associated Press for this piece, and AlphaNews for this piece. Oddly enough, this piece by Zerohedge made the lawyer’s dishonor roll.

Of course, a quick internet search produced this piece by CBS 2 Chicago about the attempt to move the trial to the area. This publicity will follow the case, wherever it goes.

The lead attorney for the group represents Defendant No. 19, Said Farah. On the same day the motion to move the trial was filed, Said Farah separately filed to separate his case from the other defendants. That effort might have made for some awkward moments around the holiday dinner table, as Said Farah is the brother the lead defendant (No. 15) in this case, Abdiaziz Farah. However, similar motions to sever were filed by the other defendants.

The alleged role of Said is outlined in the indictment beginning on page 22, paragraphs 87 through 95. His name also appears in paragraphs 140, 141, 145, 147, 148, and 162.

The Feds seized almost $78,000 from Said’s corporate bank account (p. 46, para. p). Said’s house was searched back in January 2022 (Subject Premises No. 4). At the time, the Feds seized $506 and some electronic devices from his home (p. 47, para. ee and ff).

It will be an interesting summer at the Federal courthouse.