A Minnesota juror selected to serve in a $250 million charitable fraud case was dismissed after she received a bag stuffed with $120,000 and the promise of more cash if she voted to acquit.
The 23-year-old woman, identified as Juror 52, received the parcel on Sunday, just hours before she was due to hear closing arguments in a federal trial involving mishandled money that was supposed to feed children amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Justice Department news release. She said she was not there when the bag of cash was dropped off at her north Twin Cities metro home, but her father-in-law was.
The woman dropping off the bag told him the money was “for Juror 52,” the Sahan Journal reported. She added that “there will be another bag for her if she votes to acquit,” according to Thompson.
Upon learning of the bribe, the juror immediately notified police and the bag of money has since been turned over to the FBI.
“This is outrageous behavior,” U.S. Assistant Attorney Joe Thompson said, per the Star Tribune.
“This is the stuff that happens in mob movies,” he continued. “It really strikes at the heart of this case.”
The trial the juror had been selected for involved seven defendants, each of them accused of fraudulently using a small nonprofit called Feeding Our Future to steal millions of dollars. Prosecutors said they inflated the number of meals given away at 50 locations across Minnesota during the COVID-19 pandemic, and then used the funds to buy luxury cars, jewelry and vacations instead of feeding low-income children.
They were all arrested Monday on suspicion of bribery and jury tampering, police said.
“The fact that there are only seven defendants and only seven people other than their attorneys that have the information to get to a juror and bribe the juror doesn’t relieve me with responsibility to protect the community,” U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel said.
The group of suspects are the first of 70 to go on trial in connection with the sprawling scheme, which ultimately cost taxpayers about $250 million. Eighteen of them have pleaded guilty.
