Feeding Our Future: AK-47 edition
Another twist in an already bizarre court case. I’ll get to the rifles in a minute, but first, some background.
Two co-defendants (Nos. 1 and 3) in the Feeding Our Future case — Aimee Bock, the nonprofit’s CEO, and Salim Said, a co-owner of Safari Restaurant, a food vendor — are currently on trial at the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis.
Last month during court proceedings, another co-defendant (No. 10), Abdinasir Abshir, attended the trial as a member of the public. Abshir, himself, is not scheduled to stand trial until August, with another group of co-defendants.
During a break, Abshir approached another defendant (No. 39), Sharmake Jama, in the hallway, asking him to step into the restroom to discuss the finer points of the case. Jama declined.
Jama had been waiting in the hallway to enter the courtroom to testify as a prosecution witness, as part of Jama’s plea deal in the case. Word of the hallway incident filtered up to the prosecution team, who then had Abshir arrested on suspicion of witness tampering.
Yesterday, Abshir, age 33, was in court for a hearing on whether to revoke his bond in the fraud case and continue to hold him in custody. Magistrate Judge Tony Leung found that it “wasn’t a close call.”
KARE-11’s Lou Raguse was on hand to report on the hearing. During the hearing, prosecutors brought up the January 2020 search of an office building on Park Avenue in south Minneapolis associated with the Safari Restaurant group of defendants.
KARE-11 reports:
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, who leads the Feeding our Future prosecution, revealed at the detention hearing that when FBI agents searched an office on Park Avenue in Minneapolis where Abshir met with co-defendants, agents found multiple AK-47 assault rifles and ammunition.
Yikes! At the end of the hearing, the judge concluded:
“I don’t think this is a close call in this case. I’m going to have to detain you,” Leung said.
KARE-11 also reports that before he could be arrested, Abshir accidentally “dropped” his cell phone. Oops. These things always seem to happen.
For his part, Abshir was associated with a free-food distribution site in Mankato, under the sponsorship of the nonprofit Stigma-Free International. In the scheme, Abshir is accused of working directly with Salim Said (p. 29, paragraphs 122, 125).
Under the money laundering counts, Abshir is accused of using ill-gotten gains to purchase a Land Rover (p. 50, Count 45). The Land Rover (a 2021 Range Rover) is among the items subject to forfeiture in the case (p. 56, last item).
In the Bock/Said trial, the prosecution is expected to finish up its case next week.
Abshir will remain in custody until his August trial.