Feeding Our Future: First defendant sentenced, ordered to pay nearly $48M in restitution

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The first sentencing in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme resulted in a Savage man being handed down a 12-year prison sentence and having to pay back nearly $48 million in restitution. 

What we know

Mohamed Jama Ismail, 51, of Savage, was the first person sentenced in the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice. 

On Tuesday, a federal judge handed down a sentence of 144 months (12 years) in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Ismail was also ordered to pay $47,920,514 in restitution. 

Background 

Ismail ran Empire Cuisine and Market, which acted as a vendor for Feeding Our Future, accepting money to serve meals for children during the pandemic under the Federal Child Nutrition Program. Prosecutors said Ismail enrolled in the federal program in the early days of the pandemic and lied about serving thousands of meals to children.

Ismail and other defendants were accused of misappropriating and laundering more than $40 million. Prosecutors claimed Ismail pocketed $2 million himself in the scheme and wired nearly $200,000 to China – money prosecutors have been unable to seize. Ismail also owns property in Kenya and Somalia worth $200,000 that the government cannot seize.

He and six others went to trial in June, and a jury found him guilty on one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering. 

Prosecutors had previously asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence in the guidelines, which was 12.5 years behind bars. 

What they’re saying

During sentencing, the judge said, "The taxpayers in Minnesota are rightfully outraged by the brazenness and the scope of [Ismail’s] crime. The evidence at trial was frankly breathtaking," adding that "many of us were taught to look for helpers… when the world was at its most vulnerable [Ismail] decided not to be a helper, but to be a thief," the press release read. 

What’s next?

Of the seven people who went to trial in June, five were found guilty, including Ismail. The remaining four people have yet to be sentenced. 

This trial was the first of several trials where more than 70 defendants are accused of being involved in a scheme that stole more than $250 million in federal funding, which was meant to go to child nutrition programs.