Fraud trial juror reports getting bag of $120,000 and promise of more if she'll acquit

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Fraud trial juror reports getting bag of $120,000 and promise of more if she'll acquit

Juror in Feeding Our Future trial dismissed after woman offers bag of $120,000 in cash to acquit defendants



FBI raided Twin Cities nonprofit Feeding Our Future" in St. Anthony on Jan. 20, 2022. FBI raided Twin Cities nonprofit Feeding Our Future" in St. Anthony on Jan. 20, 2022.
— Elizabeth Flores, Star Tribune

By KELLY SMITH , STAR TRIBUNE
June 03, 2024 - 9:00 AM

A juror in the Feeding Our Future federal trial was dismissed suddenly Monday morning after a woman showed up at her door Sunday with a bag of $120,000 in cash and offers of a second bag of cash if she votes to acquit the defendants, a prosecutor said in court.

The 23-year-old juror wasn't home when the woman showed up and left the juror's father-in-law a bag of cash, telling him to tell the juror that another bag of cash would be dropped off if she votes to acquit the seven defendants in the fraud case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said. … "This is completely beyond the pale," Thompson told U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel. "This is outrageous behavior. This is stuff that happens in mob movies."

The juror immediately reported the incident to Spring Lake Park police and turned over the bag of cash to authorities, who are investigating the incident, Thompson said.

The high-profile trial, now entering its seventh week, is the first one in a broader case that prosecutors have called one of the largest pandemic fraud schemes in the country, totaling more than $250 million in federal money meant to feed needy children.

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