Outrage is erupting after a Somali man in Minnesota received a short prison sentence from a federal judge Monday for his role in orchestrating $3 million in fraud as part of the broader Feeding Our Future scheme.
Federal judge Nancy Brasel sentenced Abdul Abubakar Ali to one year and one day behind bars, as the fraudster apologized to the court.
“Your honor, I just want to say I’m sorry to everyone that my actions have hurt,” Ali told the judge, according to KARE-TV in Minneapolis.
“This was a mistake. I will try to correct it for the rest of my life. It’s not something that’s in the past. I’ve let down a lot of people. I promise I will attempt to fix it for the rest of my life. So, I’m sorry.”
A Somali fraudster who helped steal $3 million in the Feeding Our Future Somali scam in Minnesota was sentenced to only one year in prison by federal judge Nancy Brasel.
Abdul Abubakar Ali pleaded guilty back in 2022. After sentencing, his attorney said he disagreed with any… pic.twitter.com/a5Dc56zPg5
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) March 30, 2026
The NBC affiliate explained: “Ali initially pleaded guilty in October 2022 after admitting that he used a shell company, known as Youth Inventors Lab, to defraud the federal pandemic meals program under the sponsorship of Feeding Our Future. Court documents show that Ali and his co-conspirators submitted fake invoices and claimed to have served more than one million meals despite serving none, helping him to personally pocket more than $100,000.”
The judge agreed with prosecution and defense attorneys that Ali had shown genuine remorse and his cooperation led to additional guilty pleas, helping the government build a case in the larger fraud scandal, as $250 million intended for pandemic relief to feed children was stolen.
“This is part of a very large fraud scheme, the largest in the District of Minnesota and one of the largest ever in the country. And you stand responsible for that, and for that reason, I just can’t see, despite your cooperation, a non-custodial sentence here,” Brasel said.
Meet Nancy Brasel, the U.S. district judge who sentenced Feeding Our Future fraudster Abdul Abubakar Ali to ONLY 1 year in prison because he showed “genuine remorse” for his crimes.
Steals millions. Gets caught. Says sorry. Only gets 1 year in prison.
The “Justice” system https://t.co/3rzl1PkjOq pic.twitter.com/oPy3HHkAGT
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 30, 2026
“Let me also add, aggravating factors of not just the money, but the fact that the public trust in government programs has been so substantially undermined and continues to be so. We are still having a conversation in this state about the structure of government programs, given the fraud you participated in, and the impact and ripples of that scheme just keep going on and on and on, and you are one reason for it.”
But Brasel’s year-long sentence is being hammered online.
“Dammmm. That’s disgusting,” said Juanita Broaddrick, a sexual accuser of former President Bill Clinton.
Eric Daugherty of RightLine News said: “This man needs to be sent out of the freaking country. Not released in a year to go exploit more taxpayer funded programs.”
BREAKING: Outrage is erupting after Minnesota Feeding our Future fraudster Abdul Abubakar Ali was sentenced to only ONE SINGLE YEAR in prison
He’s responsible for MILLIONS in stolen tax dollars and lied that he provided 1.3 million meals
THIS IS INSANE. He should be DEPORTED pic.twitter.com/IC3VC56xRY
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) March 30, 2026
Another commenter noted: “One has to wonder how much of the $3M stolen by Abdul Abubakar Ali found its way into the hands of ‘judge’ Nancy Brasel, an immigrant from the UK, a bad appointment by Donald Trump under the advice of Amy Klobuchar.
“Brasel is the same compromised judge who ruled that late mail ballots harvested for the 2020 election had to be counted. Brasel is also the compromised judge who ruled in February 2026 that detained illegal aliens had a right to free legal counsel within one hour of detention before being transferred to a detention facility.”
KARE reported Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Murphy said Ali “operated an egregiously fraudulent food site” but also requested a shorter prison sentence because of his early cooperation. Ali has also paid more than $90,000 in restitution to the court so far.
“I would say that Mr. Ali’s conduct is an aberration from an otherwise law-abiding life. His life is rather remarkable … he attended Mankato State with a bachelor’s degree in engineering, a master’s in electrical engineering from Purdue, he worked as an engineer for a period of time before returning to Minnesota and making, unfortunately, a very, very poor decision, entering into the space of social welfare programs.”
“Mr. Ali did immediately accept responsibility, within weeks of being indicted, accepted responsibility and wholly admitted his guilt and provided very valuable and useful information to the government at a very early stage.”
After sentencing, Ali’s defense attorney Kevin Gregorius said he disagreed with the decision to give his client any prison time at all.
“He’s going to spend probably the rest of his life, devoted to making things right, not just for himself but for his family and for the people in this state,” Gregorius said, adding: “Why does anyone do this? It’s opportunity and a little bit of greed, and I truly believe that when this began, Mr. Ali had the best of intentions, and I think he was involving himself in what he thought was still a legitimate program. By the time he realized it was not, I think it was a situation that he was already in it.”
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