A federal judge in Minnesota sentenced a former nonprofit leader to nearly 42 years in prison for her role in a $250 million pandemic relief fraud scheme.
U. S.
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District Court Judge Nancy Brasel ordered Aimee Bock, the former head of Feeding Our Future, to serve 500 months and repay nearly $243 million.
A jury convicted her last year of conspiracy, wire fraud, and bribery.
Prosecutors called the case the largest pandemic fraud scheme in the nation.
The funds were meant to feed hungry children, and the scheme sparked a federal immigration crackdown in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul region.
Assistant U. S.
Attorney Rebeca Kline said Bock did not just participate in fraud but orchestrated and profited from it.
The prosecution described the nonprofit as a cash pipeline driven by fake distribution sites, kickbacks, and falsified lists of children.
The government also accused Bock of leaking protected witness information via recorded jail calls, which the judge called highly disturbing.
Prosecutors noted the ripple effects of her actions are profound and will have lasting consequences for Minnesota and the nation.
Bock addressed the court, expressing remorse and acknowledging her failure to oversee the federal distribution program properly.
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She said she failed the public, her family, and everyone, and that she does not have words to express how horrible she feels.
Bock maintained she is responsible and never intended to shift blame. She said she failed to protect the program she was supposed to protect.
In a January interview, Bock said she wished she could go back and do things differently, stop things, and catch things.
She asserted that her team believed they were operating within compliance guidelines.
Defense attorney Kenneth Udoibok argued that Bock's conduct was gross negligence, not mastermind intent, pointing to two co-defendants.
Udoibok said Bock intended to give program participants opportunities to become good citizens.
He noted that Bock shared insights with federal investigators and believed more people deserved legal scrutiny.
The wider investigation has resulted in dozens of convictions, mostly involving individuals from Minnesota's Somali community.
Kline said the state of Minnesota will never be the same because of Bock.
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The investigation continues to expand, with federal authorities filing additional charges this week for Medicaid fraud, autism therapy billing scams, and childcare reimbursement fraud in Minnesota.
