A federal judge sentenced 34-year-old Abdinasir Mahamed Abshir of Lakeville to 78 months in prison Tuesday for his role in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, ordering him to also pay more than $2.29 million in restitution. U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel handed down the sentence after Abshir ran a fake food site out of a small Mankato restaurant, falsely claiming to feed thousands of children a day while pocketing federal pandemic relief money meant for hungry kids.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota, Abshir operated a site called Stigma-Free Mankato, claiming to serve 3,000 meals daily to children while siphoning more than $5.4 million in federal funds through shell companies including Horseed Management. He used the proceeds to pay over $100,000 in kickbacks to a Feeding Our Future employee and to purchase a luxury Range Rover, federal prosecutors said. Abshir pleaded guilty in March 2025 to wire fraud charges tied to the pandemic-era food relief program.
A Courthouse Confrontation Added Prison Time
Abshir's 78-month sentence, roughly six and a half years, was lengthened by an obstruction of justice enhancement after he approached a cooperating government witness in a federal courthouse hallway and bathroom on February 18, 2025, in an apparent attempt to intimidate that witness during an ongoing trial, according to FOX 9. The witness reported the encounter to prosecutors, and a judge subsequently revoked Abshir's pre-trial release ahead of his guilty plea. FOX 9 reporter Mike Manzoni reported live from the Hennepin County courtroom as the sentence was handed down.
Abshir's attempt to pressure a witness fits a troubling pattern that has run through the sprawling Feeding Our Future prosecution. In July, defendant Abdiaziz Shafii Farah received an additional 10-year sentence on top of an existing 28-year term after admitting he sent a $120,000 cash bribe hidden in a Hallmark gift bag to a juror's relative during a 2024 trial, according to the Department of Justice. That juror reported the bribery attempt to law enforcement immediately, triggering an FBI investigation.
23rd Sentencing Out of 69 Convictions
As of Tuesday, federal prosecutors have secured 69 convictions across the entire Feeding Our Future probe, with Abshir marking the 23rd defendant to be formally sentenced, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Authorities initially indicted 47 individuals in September 2022 before expanding charges to more than 70 defendants as the investigation widened.
The scheme's ringleader, Feeding Our Future founder and executive director Aimee Bock, was sentenced in May to 500 months, nearly 42 years, in federal prison and ordered to pay $243 million in restitution after a jury convicted her of wire fraud and federal programs bribery, according to MPR News. Bock maintained her innocence from jail before that sentencing. Hoodline previously reported on Bock's jailhouse remarks after her conviction.
How the Fraud Exploded During the Pandemic
The scheme took advantage of emergency COVID-19 waivers issued for the USDA Federal Child Nutrition Program, which lifted traditional in-person monitoring requirements and allowed off-site meal distribution with minimal state oversight, per a 2024 review by the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor. That audit faulted the Minnesota Department of Education for inadequate oversight of sponsor applications. Feeding Our Future's federal reimbursements ballooned from $307,000 in 2018 to $197.9 million in 2021 before federal agents halted the payouts during nationwide search warrant raids in January 2022, according to PBS.
Sentences across the case have varied widely depending on each defendant's role and conduct. In Rochester, meal site operator Zamzam Jama was sentenced in April to six months in prison for laundering $491,245, with the court finding her among the least culpable of co-conspirators who stole $5.6 million through Brava Restaurant, a case Hoodline covered at the time. Other Rochester-linked defendants, Sharmake Jama and Filsan Hassan, were later sentenced to 16 months, while Columbia Heights defendant Abdullahe Nur Jesow received 43 months.
Elsewhere in the sprawling case, co-defendants Suleman Yusuf Mohamed and Gandi Yusuf Mohamed pleaded guilty in April to wire fraud and money laundering after receiving $10.1 million in federal funds through a vendor called Star Distribution while spending negligible amounts on actual food, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Suleman Mohamed agreed to pay $8.6 million in restitution, while his brother laundered $1.3 million through real estate LLCs. As of this month, restitution recovery and the tracking of laundered assets remain open logistical challenges for federal law enforcement, even as additional sentencings continue through the rest of the year.
