Feeding Our Future: Guilty pleas #29 and #30 entered today, trial starts Monday
Today at the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, two guilty pleas were entered (separately) in the sprawling free-food scandal.
First up this morning was Ayan Jama, Defendant No. 40, who became Guilty Plea No. 29 and Conviction No. 34, overall. She is part of the six-member Jama family group of defendants, centered around the Brava Restaurant and Cafe in Rochester.
She joins her co-conspirator Sharmake Jama, who pled guilty earlier this week.
She and Sharmake both were involved in the same $5.3 million fraud scheme. Ayan spent her share of the proceeds on homes in Rochester, Minnesota, and Columbus, Ohio, and property in Turkey near the Mediterranean.
Ayan pled guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Prosecutors are requesting a prison sentence of 46-57 years (about four to five years). She forfeits the two homes in America and about $250,000 in bank accounts. The Turkish property is beyond the reach of the Feds.
Next up this afternoon was Mekfira Hussein, Defendant No. 48, “who was charged after buying a one-way ticket to Ethiopia that was set to leave on the evening of September 20” 2022. She became Guilty Plea No. 30 and conviction No. 35.
She operated the nonprofit Shamsia Hopes:
The Sahan Journal reported today on her story:
Mekfira Hussein and her husband then submitted grossly inflated meal counts in late 2020 and throughout 2021, ultimately funneling close to $9 million through their organizations. Mekfira Hussein’s plea deal admits to spending some of this money on three new cars, including a Porsche and a Tesla, as well as paying off her home mortgage. She has agreed to surrender the cars and homes to the government and pay restitution, as well as sentencing guidelines of four to five years in prison.
What’s remarkable about Mekfira is that, prior to her arrest, she and her nonprofit were put forward to the media as Feeding Our Future’s greatest success story. Here’s Sahan Journal reporting on her back in May 2021:
As a young girl, she and her Oromo family fled Ethiopia as refugees to neighboring Kenya. During that hectic time, she remembers sometimes going a full day without food.
“Growing up, you’ll eat maybe once a day, twice if you’re lucky,” Mekfira said. “Three times were the people who actually have the money.”
Mekfira doesn’t want children in Minnesota to experience what she went through. That’s why she runs Shamsia Hopes, which she said has been providing free meals to 5,000 children—mostly Oromo, Somali, and Hmong—every day since last fall.
Of course, strictly speaking, little of the above turned out to be true and Mekfira looks to spend the next few years in prison.
Starting Monday the courtroom trial of Aimee Bock (Defendant No. 1) and Salim Said (No. 3) is set to get underway.
Stay tuned…