Judge denies Burnsville defendant’s request to be released from jail in Feeding Our Future case

U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel on Monday denied Mukhtar Shariff’s request to be released from jail about two weeks after a jury convicted him and four others of federal child nutrition program fraud.

Shariff’s attorneys argued in court documents that the 33-year-old Burnsville married father of two young children isn’t a flight risk because he surrendered his passport and has been a U.S. citizen almost his whole life after immigrating from Somalia at age 5.

All seven defendants connected to a Shakopee restaurant who were on trial recently were placed in custody before the jury reached its verdict because of an attempted bribe of a juror. A woman gave a juror $120,000 in cash and told her she would receive more money if she voted to acquit. The juror immediately reported the incident to police and was excused from jury duty.

The FBI is investigating how jurors’ names were leaked and who tried to bribe the juror. FBI agents searched Shariff’s home and other defendants’ homes earlier this month.

Shariff’s attorneys argued that there was no evidence that he leaked jurors’ names. In her order, Brasel said she wasn’t considering whether he was involved with the bribery attempt, but he still had a motive to flee given his conviction, possible lengthy sentence and connections abroad.

His attorney, Frederick Goetz, argued during the trial that Shariff only oversaw food logistics — not any financial paperwork — and said he will appeal the verdict, believing “strongly what he did wasn’t a crime.”