The second courtroom trial got underway yesterday at the federal courthouse in downtown Minneapolis. Opening statements were heard in the trial of Aimee Bock, Defendant No. 1 in the case, and her co-defendant, Salim Said, Defendant No. 3.
The first two witnesses appeared for the prosecution. The court sat for six hours yesterday and resumed again this morning. The trial is expected to last a month.
Bock, now age 44, was the co-founder and CEO of the now-infamous food nonprofit, Feeding Our Future of St. Anthony.
Said was the co-owner of the now-defunct Safari Restaurant located in south Minneapolis.
In his opening statement, the defense attorney for Bock portrayed his client as an innocent victim of an indifferent and callous state Department of Education on the one hand, and villainous vendors on the other, committing fraud against her company despite her best efforts to prevent it.
For his part, Said’s lawyer admitted that crimes were committed, just not by his client.
The trial is such a big deal that all the local media outlets are covering it. Sahan Journal has an in-depth report.
During a break in the trial next week, the Bock/Said judge, Nancy Brasel, is scheduled to accept guilty plea No. 35 in the sprawling free-food scandal. Najmo Ahmed, Defendant No. 62, will appear in court on Friday, February 21.
Ahmed would then become the 40th overall conviction in the case. Ahmed was a long-time fugitive from justice, who returned from Somalia last year without her co-defendant husband Said Ereg (Defendant No. 61). The couple operated Evergreen Grocery in south Minneapolis.
There were so many guilty pleas entered last week in the case (four), that the U.S. Attorney issued a blanket press release.
With all the guilty pleas, look for a reshuffling of trial dates for later this year.