Feeding Our Future: guilty plea #28 entered today, #29 and #30 on deck

The 4th of 6 guilty pleas scheduled for this week was entered in the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis this afternoon in the sprawling free-food scandal.

Mohamed Muse Noor, aged 40, of Xogmaal Media, became Guilty Plea No. 29 in the Feeding Our Future case. He was Defendant No. 49, and now becomes Conviction No. 34, overall, after accounting for the five defendants convicted at the first Feeding Our Future courtroom trial last year. I had swung by Noor’s corporate office in south Minneapolis a few years ago:

Noor, now billed out of Chaska, goes by the stage name Deeq Darajo. The U.S. Attorney’s press release on today’s plea can be read here. Fun fact: Noor was arrested in 2022 at Chicago’s O’Hare airport before he could board a flight to Istanbul, Turkey.

In the courtroom today, a Somali-language interpreter was scheduled to be on hand for assistance, if needed.

The plea agreement filed today describes Noor as more of a middleman in the scheme, lending his credibility given his media stature.

He admitted to taking $1.3 million out of the free-food programs (page 2) but reportedly kept only $52,000 for himself. The agreement suggests a prison term ranging from 18 to 24 months. And, he’s on the hook for repaying the $52,000 (p. 9).

Guilty Plea No. 29 is scheduled for tomorrow morning and will feature Ayan Jama, Defendant No. 40, of the Jama family/Brava Restaurant of Rochester group. Ayan will join Sharmake Jama who pled guilty yesterday.

Tomorrow afternoon will see Guilty Plea No. 30 entered in the case. Mekfira Hussein, Defendant No. 48, ran the nonprofit Shamsia Hopes.

Google tells me that the word “shamsia” is Arabic for “the one who brings happiness.”

All of this is a prelude to the next courtroom trial, beginning Monday, February 3, of Aimee Bock, Defendant No. 1, and Salim Said, No. 3, overall.

Buckle up!