Feeding Our Future: 52nd conviction
Guhaad Hashi Said became the 52nd defendant convicted in the sprawling free-food scandal this afternoon at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Minneapolis.
Said, now age 49, entered the 45th guilty plea in the case. Seven others were convicted following jury trials. He pled guilty to two counts in the case, in a hearing before Judge Nancy Brasel that lasted 40 minutes.
In a press release, Acting U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said,
The conviction of the 52nd defendant in the Feeding our Future case is yet another reminder of the vast reach of this fraud and the scale of the crisis we face in Minnesota, These crimes are not isolated events. They are part of a web of schemes targeting programs that are intended to lift up Minnesotans and bleeding them dry.
From where I sit, the scale of the fraud in Minnesota is staggering, and every rock we turn over reveals more. We must be honest and clear-eyed about the scope of this problem, because ending it will take an unyielding, all-hands-on-deck effort from all of us.
The plea agreement includes a calculation of the sentencing guidelines that range from 51 to 78 months (4 to 6 1/2 years) in prison.
He is a member of the S&S Catering group of defendants, and was numbered as the 27th defendant, overall. We’ve been following his case more closely than some of the others because of his close association with Minneapolis Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN):
Said was first featured as the subject of a media profile some nine years ago by Alpha News, under the name Guhaad Hashi.
In 2021, Said claimed to have run a food distribution site out of this apartment building in Minneapolis.
The site was registered to feed up to 5,000 children per day (two meals per day, each), and the FBI stated that Said took some $3.2 million out of the free-food program.
Said did accomplish one of his long-time goals this afternoon, which was the return of his passport for the stated purpose of obtaining a state-issued Real ID. Said had earlier told the court that he lives in constant fear of being swept up off the street in one of Trump’s immigration raids. He is under court order to return his passport immediately after his DMV appointment.
A sentencing date will be set later.