First defendant in Feeding Our Future jury tampering case sentenced to nearly 5 years

The first of five people charged with jury tampering and bribery in connection to Minnesota's Feeding Our Future scandal was sentenced Wednesday to nearly five years in prison.

The judge made it clear during Wednesday's sentencing hearing that Abdulkarim Farah's actions were an attack on the justice system, and he handed down a sentence that's on the high end of federal guidelines. 

Prosecutors say during last April's Feeding Our Future trial, Farah helped target a juror with the hopes of securing a not-guilty verdict. 

At the time, two of the seven defendants on trial for their roles in the fraud scheme were Farah's brothers, and together, with others, they conspired to bribe a juror.

Court documents show Farah conducted surveillance on the juror and their home, sent a map of where the juror parked and drove a co-defendant to deliver a gift bag containing $120,000 in cash. 

Investigators say he even removed a rental car's license plate to avoid detection and later deleted encrypted messages after the bribery attempt was exposed in court.

The judge Wednesday thanked the juror for resisting the temptation to what he called a "substantial bribe."

Four other defendants involved in the bribery case have yet to be sentenced for their crimes, but all have pleaded guilty.