Which past Minnesota fraud prosecutions led to convictions and what were their timelines?
Executive summary
A series of overlapping federal and state prosecutions in Minnesota since 2021 have produced dozens of convictions tied to pandemic‑era and Medicaid‑related schemes, led most prominently by the Feeding Our Future prosecutions that produced early jury convictions in 2024 and numerous guilty pleas through 2025–2026 [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and official releases disagree on exact totals — sources cite conviction figures ranging from the high‑50s to mid‑60s and higher as investigations and pleas continued into 2025 and 2026 [4] [5] [3].
1. Feeding Our Future: the headline prosecution and its timeline
Federal prosecutors began public action against Feeding Our Future after FBI raids in January 2022, and the investigation culminated in a sprawling indictment and rolling prosecutions that produced a series of convictions and guilty pleas: a jury convicted five defendants in a June 2024 trial, the alleged ringleader was convicted in March (year specified in reporting), and numerous other defendants pleaded guilty or were convicted across 2024 and into 2025 as the government described the scheme as siphoning roughly $250 million [1] [6] [3]. By early 2025 and into 2026, outlets and the U.S. Attorney’s Office described more than 70 defendants as having pleaded guilty or been convicted in connection with pandemic‑era school meals fraud tied to Feeding Our Future, even as investigators continued to add charges and defendants [3] [7].
2. Rolling indictments, continued charges, and expanding timelines
The Feeding Our Future investigation remained active well beyond the first trials: the Justice Department continued to file new indictments, charging additional defendants through late 2025 (for example the 78th defendant in November 2025), reflecting an expanding timeline from 2022 into at least 2025 for new criminal filings and prosecutions [7]. Media timelines compiled in early 2026 map key events stretching from the initial 2021–2022 probes through multiple convictions, guilty pleas, and fresh indictments across 2023–2025 as authorities said the probe reached across dozens of defendants and multiple programs [3].
3. Other Minnesota fraud prosecutions and notable convictions
Separate from Feeding Our Future, prosecutors and state units have pursued Medicaid‑linked schemes: a PCA provider, Abdirashid Said, was convicted in 2021 on theft‑by‑swindle charges connected to earlier investigations, and in June 2024 the Minnesota Attorney General charged Abdifatah Yusuf and Lul Ahmed over an alleged $7.2 million Promise Health Services HCBS fraud — Yusuf was convicted by a jury in August 2025 though that conviction was later overturned by a Hennepin County judge, illustrating how convictions can be followed by post‑trial legal reversal [8]. Federal and state authorities also flagged dozens of other program areas (housing, autism therapy, home‑care billing) for investigation beginning in 2022, producing additional indictments and prosecutions in the years that followed [9] [10].
4. How many convictions? competing counts and political framing
Conviction totals vary depending on source and timing: CBS and Axios summarize dozens of convictions and guilty pleas tied to the major pandemic‑era scheme, with reporting saying “more than 70” or “62” convicted in some accounts [6] [3], while a House Oversight release and some DOJ briefings gave higher snapshots — for example the House release cited 98 defendants charged with 64 convictions as of its summary [5]. Conservative outlets and officials have emphasized different numbers (for instance reports claiming 57 convictions from a 78‑defendant prosecution), underscoring that rolling plea deals, new indictments and differing cutoffs for counting convictions yield divergent public figures [4] [5].
5. What’s settled, what’s unresolved and reporting limits
What is clear in official and press reporting is that prosecutors secured multiple jury convictions and many guilty pleas from 2021 through 2025 in both the Feeding Our Future prosecutions and separate Medicaid‑related cases, while investigations and new indictments continued into late 2025 and into 2026; beyond that, precise totals and final case outcomes remain fluid as plea deals, additional indictments, and post‑conviction rulings (including at least one overturned jury verdict) change the record [1] [7] [8]. This account relies on available reporting and government releases; where sources conflict on numbers or dates, those discrepancies are highlighted rather than resolved without further official consolidation [3] [5].