Bagwoman pleads guilty in Feeding Our Future bribery case

This afternoon, at the Federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, the bagwoman in the Feeding Our Future juror bribery case pled guilty to one count. Your correspondent was there. The hearing lasted 36 minutes.

Ladan Mohamed Ali, age 31, was flown in from Seattle, Washington, and delivered a Hallmark gift bag containing $120,000 to the home of Juror #52 in the first Feeding Our Future trial.

Police recovered the $120,000 when Juror #52 called the cops. What we learned today was that Ali was supposed to have delivered $200,000 to the juror. Ali apparently pocketed $80,000 for herself. The Feds say that they also recovered this amount.

I’ve updated the defendant tracker for this case:

The plea agreement filed today describes Ali’s role in the bribery scheme. Her involvement spanned a two-week period in late May and early June. She worked primarily with Abdimajid Nur, who has also pled guilty in the bribery case and was also convicted as part of the larger Feeding Our Future fraud case.

In her plea agreement, she admits to working with defendant Abdulkarim Farah in the actual delivery of the cash. Farah is awaiting trial with two co-defendants in the bribery case, scheduled for this fall. The remaining defendants in the bribery case are all brothers.

Based on sentencing guidelines, Ali could serve between 57 and 71 months in Federal prison. The bribery charge carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.

No sentencing date has been set yet. She remains free on bail.