Feeding Our Future juror briber gets 10 more years in prison; fraudster who jumped from balcony changes plea

On Wednesday inside a federal courtroom in St. Paul, Minnesota, Abdiaziz Farah — one of the ringleaders of the 2024 Feeding Our Future juror bribery scheme — was handed a 10-year prison sentence for what the judge called a "coordinated assault on our system of justice."

Farah and four other defendants delivered a bag of cash to who they call "juror 52." Charges say they researched the jurors to see who would be most empathetic. They decided juror 52, a Black woman, was the one to target. But the bribe didn't work, as the juror promptly alerted authorities.

Farah, who is already serving nearly three decades for his role in the nation's largest pandemic fraud scheme, admitted his mistake in Wednesday's hearing and apologized to the juror, saying he "failed to protect and honor her rights to privacy."

Hours later in Minneapolis, 32-year-old Muhammad Omar told the judge he's guilty of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, illegally taking $3.2 million from Minnesota's Housing and Stabilization Services program, which was shut down last year.  

When Omar appeared inside the courtroom, he showed up in a wheelchair which his attorney says was due to an injury when he tried to flee.

According to the FBI, Omar jumped from a fourth-story balcony to try to avoid arrest and was detained hours later.

Omar is one of 15 people charged in connection with Medicaid fraud schemes that officials say took more than $90 million in taxpayer dollars.

Prosecutors said for four months, Omar and his partner billed the program for providing services to a dead person.

Just Tuesday, the Trump administration said it was deferring more than $1 billion in Medicaid payments to Minnesota and California due to quote "suspected fraud and noncompliance."