Feeding Our Future trial rocked by witness-tampering allegations

Allegations of witness tampering in the federal Feeding Our Future trial rocked the courtroom Tuesday, leading to new security measures and an investigation into the role one of the defendants may have played in the incident.

“I just want to be clear — witness tampering is a crime and a serious one,” said U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel, who is overseeing the month-long trial. “And that’s what we are trying to prevent here. I don’t know what occurred here today but I am going to find out.”

At the urging of federal prosecutors, Brasel agreed to look into allegations that one of the defendants on trial, Salim Said, improperly invited some of his co-defendants to attend certain portions of the trial in an attempt to “corrupt” the proceedings. Said is on trial along with Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock.

It’s the second trial in the sprawling fraud case. Last year, the first Feeding Our Future trial, where a jury convicted five of the seven defendants, ended with an attempted bribe of a juror, a rare incident that drew international media attention and resulted in jurors being sequestered for their safety. Additional criminal charges were filed in that case against several of the defendants, who were indicted for leaving a bag with about $120,000 in cash at the home of one of the jurors, telling one of her relatives that she would receive more money if she voted to acquit.

[More: Minneapolis City Council Member Jamal Osman entangled in fraud trial]

The new tampering allegations Tuesday came at the end of a fairly routine day that was dominated by the testimony of U.S. Postal Inspector John Western, who discussed evidence involving two meal sites operated in Mankato and Willmar by Stigma-Free International, one of the biggest recipients of federal funds overseen by the nonprofit Feeding Our Future.

Bock has been accused by prosecutors of organizing a pay-for-play scheme in which dozens of alleged conspirators stole $250 million by pretending to feed thousands of children each day. Bock is on trial with Said, co-owner of Safari Restaurant and other organizations that allegedly defrauded the government of more than $30 million.

While Western was testifying, one of the men who oversaw the Mankato site entered the courtroom and sat down next to the jury, making a significant amount of noise while entering and leaving, possibly in an effort to catch the jurors' attention, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson told Brasel.

Thompson said the man, whom he identified as Abdinasir Abshir, later tried to convince one of his co-conspirators — who has agreed to testify for the government — to go into the courthouse bathroom for an inappropriate conversation. Abshir and his brother, Asad Abshir, are scheduled to go on trial April 14 but have asked the court for a postponement.

Thompson identified that witness as Sharmake Jama, who was indicted for allegedly defrauding the government of more than $5 million by pretending to feed 4,000 children a day at his Brava Restaurant in Rochester.

Jama, 37, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering in late January. He was originally expected to testify Tuesday and was in the courthouse, awaiting his turn, when he was approached by Abdinasir Abshir, prosecutors said.

“It concerns me greatly that we have a cooperating defendant who is a witness who is out in the hallway, who is potentially approached to meet without his attorney just outside the courtroom,” Brasel said.

Thompson told Brasel that he suspects Said may have called Abshir during the lunch break and suggested he come to court to listen to testimony involving his meal site in Mankato. Thompson noted that another defendant was in court last week while a different witness provided testimony about his meal site in St. Paul.

Thompson asked Brasel to inspect Said’s phone and look for any evidence that he has been in communication with Abshir and other defendants. Michael Colich, one of Said’s attorneys, later told reporters that he did not think Said could have made a call to any of his co-defendants during Tuesday’s trial proceedings because his cellphone was in the lawyer’s office.

“He didn’t have a phone so it would have been pretty hard,” Colich said, adding, “I didn’t call anybody.”

Brasel ordered Said not to delete anything from his phone, telling his attorneys that she would order it seized if she finds evidence to support the move.

“As you know, Mr. Said, the government will be able to tell if there is anything deleted from your phone from today forward,” Brasel told Said.

Brasel said she will interview Jama about the incident along with a federal marshal, who witnessed some of the conversation and one of the federal prosecutors involved in the case.

Thompson said someone else connected with the case sat down with a federal agent Tuesday morning at the courthouse while he was having breakfast, a possible act of intimidation.

“I hate that I find myself in this situation again ... It makes me sick to my stomach,” Thompson told Brasel. “Something is going on. We have to stop it.”

Brasel also issued new instructions to Bock and Said regarding any future communications with other alleged conspirators.

“You are not to speak with anyone who is either a witness or a co-defendant in the case at all about anything during the pendency of this trial,” Brasel told Bock and Said.

Testimony began last week and is projected to last until mid-March, court records show.

Thompson asked the court to instruct Abshir’s attorney that he modify his behavior if he comes to court again so that he doesn’t attract the jurors' attention.

“We need to protect the integrity of these proceedings,” said Thompson, who asked the court to prevent any additional “shenanigans.”

Brasel agreed to contact Abshir’s attorney and instruct him and his relative to refrain from sitting next to the jury if they return to court and instead sit “as close to the aisle as possible.”