Feeding Our Future: guilty plea in bribery case

Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, now age 36, pled guilty to one count of attempted bribery of a juror at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Minneapolis this morning.

Your correspondent was there. Farah arrived in court escorted by U.S. Marshals. He was clad in a jail-issued combo of orange pants and an orange-and-white-striped shirt.

Farah is defendant No. 15 (of 72) in the sprawling free-food scandal. He was convicted on 23 counts last year’s fraud trial that gave rise to the bribery case. Farah is considered to be the ringleader of the Empire Cuisine group of defendants. He was the 19th (of 46, so far) conviction in the fraud case.

You will recall the Hallmark gift bag containing $120,000 in cash, refused by juror No. 52 on June 2, 2024, during last year’s fraud trial.

When the bribery plot was revealed in court the following morning, Farah executed a factory reset of his iPhone while sitting just feet away from the presiding judge.

On the bribery charge, Farah’s plea agreement sets the expected prison sentence between 97 and 121 months (8-10 years). His sentencing in the fraud case is set for next month. It is yet to be determined whether he will serve his respective prison sentences consecutively or concurrently.