A prosecution witness in the Feeding Our Future trial alleged that a defendant’s relative approached him outside of the courtroom Tuesday afternoon and told him to accompany him to the bathroom.
The witness, Sharmake Jama, declined the invitation and shared the encounter with his attorney, who reported it to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He was scheduled to testify shortly after the encounter.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson shared details of the incident with the court on the fifth day of testimony in the trial of Feeding Our Future’s former executive director, Aimee Bock.
It’s the latest unexpected turn of events in an already unprecedented case. Federal prosecutors have charged 70 defendants with allegedly stealing $250 million from the federal government. The first trial was held last year, and was rocked by charges that some defendants and non-defendant co-conspirators allegedly bribed a juror with $120,000 in cash to acquit them.
In a January pretrial hearing for Bock’s trial, Thompson revealed that Salim Said, who is being jointly tried with Bock, threatened to kill a witness. Thompson did not reveal the witness’ name.
Sharmarke Jama believed that the man who approached him Tuesday was a relative of Salim Said’s, Thompson told U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Brasel. The man was accompanied by Abdinasir Abshir, another defendant in the Feeding Our Future case.
“He asked him [Sharmarke Jama] to go into the bathroom after he learned that Mr. Jama was set to testify,” Thompson told Brasel.
Sharmake pleaded guilty last month in the case to wire fraud. He helped run Brava Restaurant, which contracted with Feeding Our Future and obtained more than $5.3 million from the federal government.
“It concerns me greatly that we have a cooperating witness who is in the hallway potentially approached to meet without his attorney outside the courtroom,” Brasel said, adding that she wanted prosecutors to collect more information about the exchange and report back to her.
The relative and Abdinasir Abshir had also entered the courtroom earlier that day, sat in public benches near the jury, and made audible noise talking to each other.
Thompson also raised concerns about their courtroom behavior, noting that it could lead to juror intimidation. He asked Brasel to order that Bock and Salim Said be instructed not to communicate with other defendants during trial.
Michael Colich, an attorney for Salim Said, raised concerns about Thompson’s request, noting that there’s a lot of interaction between family members in the Somali culture, and “if there’s a crisis, they interact with each other.”
“There are very traditional practices in the culture that bring them together quite often,” Colich said.
Thompson dismissed Colich’s argument, emphasizing that a defendant’s relatives allegedly attempted to bribe a juror in last year’s Feeding Our Future trial. Thompson added that he didn’t think cultural norms were an excuse for some behaviors.
“I’ve had it up to here with the shenanigans in this case,” he said.
Brasel instructed Bock and Salim to refrain from speaking with other defendants for the duration of the trial. She also ordered that all defendants in the case who are not a part of the trial be seated closest to the aisle and away from the jury.
