A trial concerning one of the biggest pandemic-fraud scams in American history has taken an enigmatic turn after it was said that a bribe was made to a juror.
The juror lost her job after claiming to have received a bag containing $120,000 (£93,770) in cash from a woman she saw at home while clothed in black. She was to vote to exonerate the seven defendants in exchange.
The juror served in a trial centered on the purported misappropriation of almost $40 million from a food assistance program for children that receives funding from taxpayers.
After the juror informed the court about the suspected bribery plot, all of the defendants were taken into custody.
Government prosecutor Assistant US Attorney Joseph Thompson told the court, “This is stuff that happens in mob movies.”
“Let’s face it, nobody from outside this room did it.”
After a week-long jury selection process and five weeks of witness testimony, the bribe took place just before the jurors were supposed to start deliberations.
A felony that carries a maximum 10-year jail sentence is bribing a juror. The six men and one women who are now on trial are already facing 41 accusations in total, including money laundering and wire fraud.
The prosecution has accused the defendants, who are all immigrants from Somalia who now reside in Minnesota, of using their charity as a front to get funding from the federal Child Nutrition Program.
giving fictitious names to youngsters that didn’t exist and fabricating documentation showing how those figures increased during it.
