# Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff *Defendant convicted in the first Feeding Our Future trial (June 7, 2024)* Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff was one of five defendants found guilty on June 7, 2024, in the [[first Feeding Our Future trial]]. The trial was held in federal court in [[Minnesota]] before Judge [[Nancy E. Brasel]].[^1] The trial was part of the [[Feeding Our Future]] prosecution. On September 20, 2022, the U.S. Attorney announced charges against 47 defendants in that case, alleging a $250 million fraud. Those charges were allegations as of that date, and many of the defendants have since been convicted.[^2] Six months before the verdict, on December 8, 2023, the Minnesota Attorney General entered an Assurance of Discontinuance with [[Gateway STEM Academy]], a charter school in [[Burnsville]].[^3] The project's at-issue record identifies Shariff and [[Abdiaziz Shafii Farah]] as two of the three Gateway STEM leaders named in that settlement.[^3] The record therefore holds two documented outcomes for the same individuals: a state settlement in December 2023 and a federal jury verdict in June 2024.[^3][^1] It does not establish why the two outcomes differed. ## Who The Department of Justice's June 7, 2024 release names Shariff, with Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, among the five defendants convicted before Judge Brasel.[^1] The project's Dakota County at-issue entry names Shariff as one of the three Gateway STEM Academy leaders in the Attorney General's December 2023 settlement.[^3] No other biographical detail about him appears in the sources assembled for this article. ## What According to the at-issue entry, Shariff and Farah were convicted of defrauding the [[Federal Child Nutrition Program]].[^1] The entry rests on Department of Justice and Attorney General sources. The same entry describes the conduct behind the earlier state settlement as the leaders moving money from the Burnsville charter school to their own companies.[^3] A second at-issue entry, which rests on news reports, states that Shariff was sentenced to 17.5 years.[^4] ## When - September 20, 2022: The U.S. Attorney announced charges against 47 defendants in the Feeding Our Future case.[^2] - December 8, 2023: The Minnesota Attorney General entered the Assurance of Discontinuance with Gateway STEM Academy.[^3] - June 3, 2024: According to the news-sourced at-issue entry, Shariff has been held in custody since this date.[^4] - June 7, 2024: Shariff and four co-defendants were found guilty.[^1] - May 2026: The White House issued the release that serves as the anchor for both at-issue entries.[^4] ## Where Gateway STEM Academy was in Burnsville, in Dakota County.[^3] The trial took place in federal court in Minnesota before Judge Brasel.[^1] The news-sourced at-issue entry states that the Feeding Our Future defendants it lists, including Shariff, were held in Sherburne County.[^4] ## How much The September 2022 charges alleged a $250 million fraud.[^2] The Department of Justice's June 2024 conviction release uses the same $250 million figure.[^1] ## How many - 47 defendants were charged in September 2022.[^2] - Five defendants were found guilty on June 7, 2024.[^1] - Three Gateway STEM leaders were named in the December 2023 settlement.[^3] Two of them, Farah and Shariff, were among those convicted six months later.[^1] ## In the at-issue record The Dakota County entry places the Attorney General's December 2023 settlement beside the June 2024 federal convictions.[^3][^1] It summarizes the sequence as "The state settled. The United States convicted." It describes the contrast this way: "the state's remedy for the same actors was a training requirement; the federal remedy was a jury verdict."[^3] The entry's anchor is a May 2026 White House release, *Trump Administration's Full-Scale War on Fraud*.[^4] The Sherburne County entry is flagged as concerning adjudicated convictions and sentences. It locates the custody of Feeding Our Future defendants, including Shariff, in Sherburne County. Its sources are news reports, and it is anchored to the same White House release.[^4] ## Notes [^1]: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, *Five Defendants Found Guilty for Their Roles in $250 Million Fraud Scheme* (June 7, 2024) — establishes the convictions of five defendants, including Abdiaziz Shafii Farah and Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff, before Judge Nancy E. Brasel. https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/five-defendants-found-guilty-their-roles-250-million-fraud-scheme [^2]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *U.S. Attorney Announces Federal Charges Against 47 Defendants in $250 Million Feeding Our Future Fraud* (Sept. 20, 2022) — establishes the charges against 47 defendants and the $250 million figure, as allegations at that date. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/us-attorney-announces-federal-charges-against-47-defendants-250-million-feeding-our-future [^3]: Minnesota Attorney General, *Gateway STEM Academy Assurance of Discontinuance* (Dec. 8, 2023) — establishes the state settlement with the Burnsville charter school; the project's at-issue entry identifies Farah and Shariff as two of the three leaders named in it. https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2023/12/08_GatewaySTEMAcademy.asp [^4]: The White House, *Trump Administration's Full-Scale War on Fraud* (May 2026) — the anchor release cited by both at-issue entries. The Sherburne entry's custody and sentencing details rest on Sahan Journal and Star Tribune reports that are not among this article's sources. https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/05/trump-administrations-full-scale-war-on-fraud/