A federal jury found two co-defendants guilty on all counts for their roles in the sprawling Feeding Our Future meal fraud scheme.

Aimee Bock, the now-defunct nonprofit’s founder and executive director, and Salim Said, co-owner of a Minneapolis restaurant that was under Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship, were found to have conspired to steal $250 million in taxpayer funds through the Federal Child Nutrition Program.

Bock was found guilty on seven counts, and Said was convicted on a staggering 21 counts. They face prison time on charges of wire fraud, federal programs bribery, money laundering and conspiracy to commit those crimes.

A full breakdown of the jury’s verdict can be found at the bottom of this article.

As the jury foreman read the verdict, Bock shook her head, seemingly in disbelief. Said did a small head shake.

As Judge Nancy Brasel considered whether to detain the defendants until sentencing, Bock’s attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, argued that his client does not pose a flight risk because she doesn’t have a passport and lives with her parents.

“We ask that she have some time to get her affairs ready for prison,” he said.

Said’s defense attorney, Adrian Montez, said his client was guilty of serious crimes but did not pose an imminent danger to the public. He added that Said had not had the chance to say goodbye to his children.

Brasel disagreed and ordered both defendants to remain in custody until they are sentenced.

“Frankly, I think public safety is at risk,” she said, adding that there is reason to believe they are at significant risk of fleeing. She also pointed to heightened security surrounding the trial.

Montez pat Said on the back before his arrest, and U.S. marshals made him and Bock remove their jewelry and belts. Bock’s legal team comforted her, and she blew her nose before being taken away.

Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Lisa Kirkpatrick praised the jury’s verdict, calling Bock and Said “thieves” at a time when “so many were trying to be helpers.”

“They used a time of crisis as their golden opportunity to enrich themselves and their criminal partners, outlandishly so,” Kirkpatrick said. “And every step of the way, Bock fought to keep her fraud scheme going. Today, her efforts to lie, to blame others, to escape responsibility came to an end.”

Lead U.S. prosecutor Joe Thompson said Bock and Said helped perpetrate a “brazen and corrupt scheme to take advantage of a program designed to feed needy children.”

“The Feeding Our Future case has come to symbolize the problem of fraud in our state,” Thompson said. “It has become the shame of Minnesota. Hopefully, today’s verdict will help turn the page on this awful chapter in our state’s history.”

Thompson said “significant” prison time awaits Bock and Said. He added that the government has so far recovered $60 million of the stolen taxpayer funds.

Governor Tim Walz reacted to the verdict at a news conference Wednesday.

“These are criminals who preyed on a system that was meant to feed children,” he said. “It was organized and they continued to lie about that. I am so grateful for […] a guilty verdict for Ms. Bock, who appears to be the ringleader of this, on all counts.”

Walz added that the state is working to recoup as much of the stolen money as possible.

“I think [this case] sparked a needed conversation, a bipartisan conversation, of how we can try to prevent these things,” he said. “But I remind people that nobody in state government was involved in any crime — we just need to make sure that we put up more firewalls, more security and more ability to make sure people aren’t able to prey on [government programs].”

Sentencing hearings for Bock and Said will be scheduled at a later date.

The jury’s verdict is as follows:

Aimee Bock

• Count 1 — Conspiracy to commit wire fraud: GUILTY
• Count 2 — Wire fraud: GUILTY
• Count 4 — Wire fraud: GUILTY
• Count 5 — Wire fraud: GUILTY
• Count 12 — Wire fraud: GUILTY
• Count 15 — Conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery: GUILTY
• Count 40 — Federal programs bribery: GUILTY

Salim Said

• Count 1 — Conspiracy to commit wire fraud: GUILTY
• Count 2 — Wire fraud: GUILTY
• Count 5 — Wire fraud: GUILTY
• Count 8 — Wire fraud: GUILTY
• Count 12 — Wire fraud: GUILTY
• Count 15 — Conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery: GUILTY
• Count 16 — Federal programs bribery: GUILTY
• Count 17 — Federal programs bribery: GUILTY
• Count 18 — Federal programs bribery: GUILTY
• Count 19 — Federal programs bribery: GUILTY
• Count 32 — Federal programs bribery: GUILTY
• Count 34 — Federal programs bribery: GUILTY
• Count 36 — Federal programs bribery: GUILTY
• Count 37 — Federal programs bribery: GUILTY
• Count 38 — Federal programs bribery: GUILTY
• Count 41 — Conspiracy to commit money laundering: GUILTY
• Count 42 — Money laundering: GUILTY
• Count 44 — Money laundering: GUILTY
• Count 51 — Money laundering: GUILTY
• Count 52 — Money laundering: GUILTY
• Count 57 — Money laundering: GUILTY

“The fraud was pretty alarming for a lot of us, but I think a lot of us were already doing the right thing,” says Christa DeBoer, Nutrition Program Director with Youthprise.

Christa DeBoer is glad the trial is over — and grateful for the outcome.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS first met DeBoer in 2022— when Aimee Bock and dozens of others were first indicted.

She works for the Minneapolis nonprofit “Youthprise,” which is overseeing a program that sponsors dozens of sites, serving 285,000 meals a year to kids in need with funding from federal child nutrition programs.

DeBoer notes under state law, “Youthprise” has to undergo three separate audits.

“So you take three to five months that they’re like okay, we want all your financials,” DeBoer explains. “Where are your receipts, where are your documents, where are your meal claims, where are your orders, invoices? You give them everything you have.”

We also spoke with Rob Williams, the founder and president of “Every Meal,” a Roseville nonprofit that provides 47,000 meals a week to kids in 391 Minnesota schools.

“There are actually hungry kids that face empty kitchen cupboards at home,” he says. “To have a $250 million fraud that could have been spent actually helping kids out in their communities, who do need the food support.”

He says each year, he pays an independent auditor $25,000 to examine their finances before they turn that information over to the state.

“We have to do an independent audit every year, and I actually enjoy the process,” Williams says. “It helps us look through what we’re doing, make sure we have checks and balances in place.”

DeBoer expects stricter government oversight of non-profits that distribute food to kids.

“I think we’ll see a lot more discussion, a lot more clarity of how things are going to be transparent going forward, how much more transparency we can possibly have.”

Both DeBoer and Williams say in the wake of the trial, their biggest concern — was that money wasn’t going to feed children.