# Abdiaziz Shafii Farah *Defendant found guilty in the first Feeding Our Future trial (June 7, 2024); named in two at-issue records.* Abdiaziz Shafii Farah is a defendant in the federal [[Feeding Our Future]] prosecution. On June 7, 2024, he was one of five defendants found guilty in the [[first Feeding Our Future trial]], before Judge [[Nancy E. Brasel]].[^1] [[Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff]] was convicted at the same trial.[^1] The project's Dakota County record describes the verdict as a conviction for defrauding the [[Federal Child Nutrition Program]].[^2] Six months earlier, on December 8, 2023, the Minnesota Attorney General's office entered an Assurance of Discontinuance with [[Gateway STEM Academy]] in [[Burnsville]].[^3] The Dakota record identifies Farah and Shariff as two of the three school leaders named in that settlement.[^2] It sets the state's settlement beside the federal verdict in six words: "The state settled. The United States convicted."[^2] Farah received a 28-year prison sentence.[^4] The pack's sources disagree on its date: a timeline row citing an IRS Criminal Investigation release gives August 6, 2024, while the project's validated passage of June 18, 2026 gives August 2025.[^4][^5] A Sherburne County record, drawing on news reporting, adds a 10-year term for bribing a juror with $120,000 in cash.[^6] ## Who The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota named Abdiaziz Shafii Farah among the five defendants found guilty at the first trial.[^1] An IRS Criminal Investigation release, as carried in the project's timeline, identifies him as "Abdiaziz Farah" in reporting his 28-year sentence.[^4] His co-defendant Shariff was also among the three Gateway STEM leaders named in the Attorney General's settlement, according to the Dakota record.[^2][^3] ## What The Dakota record states that Farah and Shariff moved money to their own companies out of a Burnsville charter school, citing the Attorney General's settlement and the Justice Department's verdict release as its sources.[^2][^3][^1] The record characterizes the state's remedy for these actors as a training requirement and the federal remedy as a jury verdict.[^2] The Justice Department's verdict release places the matter at $250 million.[^1] ## When - September 20, 2022: the U.S. Attorney announced federal charges against 47 defendants in the Feeding Our Future investigation; these were allegations as of that date.[^7] - December 8, 2023: the Attorney General's Assurance of Discontinuance with Gateway STEM Academy.[^3] - June 7, 2024: verdict in the first trial; five defendants, including Farah, found guilty.[^1] - August 6, 2024 (per the timeline row citing IRS Criminal Investigation) or August 2025 (per the project's validated passage): sentence of 28 years.[^4][^5] ## Where The settlement concerned Gateway STEM Academy in Burnsville, Dakota County.[^3] The verdict was announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota.[^1] The Sherburne County record places Farah among the Feeding Our Future defendants physically held in Sherburne County, at the [[Sherburne County Jail]].[^6] ## How much - $250 million: the figure in the Justice Department's September 20, 2022 charging announcement and in its June 7, 2024 verdict release.[^7][^1] - $120,000 in cash: the amount of the juror bribe, as stated in the Sherburne County record from news reporting.[^6] ## How many - 47 defendants charged in the September 20, 2022 announcement.[^7] - Five defendants found guilty at the first trial, Farah among them.[^1] - Three Gateway STEM leaders named in the December 2023 settlement, two of whom (Farah and Shariff) were convicted at the first trial, according to the Dakota record.[^2][^3] - 28 years for fraud, plus 10 years for juror bribery per the Sherburne record.[^4][^6] - As of June 18, 2026, the project's validated passage counts 78 defendants charged across the investigation and 66 convictions. It describes Farah's 28 years as the second-longest sentence before the Bock sentence.[^5] ## In the at-issue record **Dakota County item (AI-Dakota-048).** This item sets the Attorney General's December 2023 settlement with Gateway STEM Academy beside the June 7, 2024 federal convictions of two of the three leaders it named. It describes the state's remedy as a training requirement and the federal remedy as a jury verdict.[^2][^3][^1] **Sherburne County item (AI-Sherburne-004).** This item draws on news reporting from the Sahan Journal and the Star Tribune. It places Farah, Shariff and [[Abdikerm Eidleh]] at the Sherburne County Jail. It reports Farah's 28-year fraud term and a 10-year term for juror bribery, and it notes that Shariff has been held since June 3, 2024 and was sentenced to 17.5 years.[^6] The record flags these outcomes as adjudicated convictions and sentences.[^6] The pack carries no pending appeal or open docket for Farah. ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Abdiaziz Farah: a Feeding Our Future defendant sentenced to 28 years, per the timeline row citing IRS Criminal Investigation.[^4] ### When - August 6, 2024: the sentencing date as given in that timeline row; the project's validated passage gives August 2025.[^4][^5] ## Notes [^1]: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, *Release on the first Feeding Our Future trial verdict* (June 7, 2024) — five defendants, including Abdiaziz Shafii Farah and Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff, found guilty before Judge Nancy E. Brasel in a $250 million matter. https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/five-defendants-found-guilty-their-roles-250-million-fraud-scheme [^2]: Project at-issue record AI-Dakota-048, *Dakota Claims Exposure Matrix* (2026-09-02; sources ag.state.mn.us and justice.gov) — identifies Farah and Shariff as two of three Gateway STEM leaders named in the December 2023 settlement and convicted June 7, 2024. Record anchor (White House release, May 2026): https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/05/trump-administrations-full-scale-war-on-fraud/ [^3]: Minnesota Attorney General, *Gateway STEM Academy (Burnsville) Assurance of Discontinuance* (Dec. 8, 2023) — agency settlement with Gateway STEM Academy. https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2023/12/08_GatewaySTEMAcademy.asp [^4]: IRS Criminal Investigation, *Release on the sentencing of a Feeding Our Future defendant to 28 years in prison* (dated Aug. 6, 2024 in the project's timeline row TL-0928) — Abdiaziz Farah sentenced to 28 years. https://www.irs.gov/compliance/criminal-investigation/feeding-our-future-defendant-sentenced-to-28-years-prison [^5]: Project validated passage [60], *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified, 2026-06-18), citing justice.gov/usao-mn and MPR — 78 defendants charged, 66 convictions to date; Farah's 28 years (Aug. 2025) as the second-longest sentence before Bock. No URL is carried in the pack. [^6]: Project at-issue record AI-Sherburne-004, *The Warehouse County & the Two Offices Edition* (2026; news sources sahanjournal.com and startribune.com) — Farah's 28-year fraud term and 10-year term for bribing a juror with $120,000; held in Sherburne County. Record anchor (White House release, May 2026): https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/05/trump-administrations-full-scale-war-on-fraud/ [^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, *Announcement of federal charges against 47 defendants in the $250 million Feeding Our Future investigation* (Sept. 20, 2022) — charges against 47 defendants; allegations as of that date. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/us-attorney-announces-federal-charges-against-47-defendants-250-million-feeding-our-future