A Minnesota man whose food site received more than $5.4 million after falsely claiming to serve about 1.6 million meals to children has been sentenced to 6½ years in federal prison.
Abdinasir Mahamed Abshir, 34, of Lakeville, received a 78-month sentence on Aug. 18 for wire fraud in the massive Feeding Our Future case, according to the latest reporting from FOX 9.
But the fraud itself was not the only conduct that affected his punishment. While another Feeding Our Future trial was underway in February 2025, Abshir approached a cooperating witness who was preparing to testify and asked the man to go into a courthouse bathroom with him to talk.
Abshir later acknowledged that the encounter amounted to obstruction of justice through attempted witness tampering. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel said the courthouse conduct was a primary reason for the 78-month term.
His Site Claimed to Serve 3,000 Children Every Day
Abshir operated Stigma-Free Mankato under Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship during the pandemic. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, Abshir falsely claimed his site was serving meals to 3,000 children every day, seven days a week, from J’s Sambusa, a small restaurant in North Mankato.
He also created Horseed Management and represented the company as a meal vendor for Stigma-Free Mankato. The fraudulent activity stretched from April 2020 through January 2022, according to federal prosecutors.
The Meal Claims Reached About 1.6 Million
Between November 2020 and November 2021, Abshir and his co-conspirators falsely claimed that Stigma-Free Mankato had served approximately 1.6 million meals to children. They supported those claims with fake meal counts, invoices and attendance rosters, prosecutors said.
The operation ultimately received more than $5.4 million from Feeding Our Future based on fraudulent claims. Prosecutors said Abshir and his co-conspirators misappropriated much of the funding. Those figures represent payments received by the fraudulent food site, not an amount prosecutors have said Abshir personally kept.
Millions Moved Through His Companies
Abshir transferred millions of dollars from Horseed Management to himself and other people involved in the scheme. Some of the money went to Calikamin Enterprise, another shell company Abshir created. He also used fraud proceeds to purchase a 2021 Range Rover, which federal authorities seized for forfeiture.
Prosecutors say Abshir paid more than $100,000 in bribes and kickbacks to Abdikerm Eidleh, a Feeding Our Future employee, in exchange for helping sponsor and facilitate Stigma-Free Mankato’s participation in the federal nutrition program.
Feeding Our Future received nearly $420,000 in administrative fees for sponsoring the site, according to the Justice Department. Abshir also paid $5,750 into a GoFundMe account created for Feeding Our Future in December 2021.
Then He Approached a Witness Outside the Courtroom
Abshir’s fraud case took another turn on Feb. 18, 2025, while Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock and co-defendant Salim Said were on trial. A cooperating witness was outside Courtroom 13W at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis and was preparing to testify that day.
Abshir approached the witness and, after learning that he was about to testify, asked him to accompany him to a courthouse bathroom so they could have a conversation.
Federal prosecutors treated the encounter as an attempt to interfere with the administration of justice. Abshir was subsequently detained.
He Admitted the Witness Encounter Would Affect His Sentence
He pleaded guilty to wire fraud on March 7, 2025. As part of that plea, he acknowledged that an obstruction-of-justice enhancement would apply under the federal sentencing guidelines because he attempted to tamper with the cooperating witness.
His attorneys sought a 48-month sentence. Prosecutors argued for a substantially longer term that would account for both the underlying fraud and the attempt to interfere with a witness.
The Judge Sentenced Him to 78 Months
Judge Brasel sentenced Abshir on Aug. 18 to 78 months in federal prison, or 6½ years. The Justice Department said the sentence expressly reflected both Abshir’s participation in the Feeding Our Future fraud and his effort to tamper with the cooperating witness.
FOX 9 reported that Brasel described the courthouse incident as “blatant” and “egregious” and said it undermined the rule of law. She indicated that a 48-month sentence might have been more appropriate had the witness tampering not occurred.
Abshir apologized during the sentencing hearing. FOX 9 also reported that he was ordered to pay more than $2 million in restitution. Abshir had already spent approximately 18 months in custody by the time of sentencing. He is the 23rd defendant to be sentenced in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
How to Report Suspected Child Nutrition Program Fraud
Employees, vendors, parents and members of the public who encounter suspected fraud involving USDA nutrition programs do not need to conduct their own investigation before reporting concerns. The USDA Food and Nutrition Service directs reports of suspected nutrition-program fraud to the USDA Office of Inspector General.
Information that can make a report more useful includes the names of organizations or individuals involved, locations, dates, questionable invoices or meal records, payment information and a clear description of what appeared suspicious. Original records, emails or other evidence should be preserved rather than altered.
For suspected fraud involving funds administered by the Minnesota Department of Education, the state’s Office of the Inspector General accepts reports of fraud, waste and abuse involving public funds administered by the department. Reports can be made through its toll-free tip line at 833-819-8090 or through the contact methods published by the agency.