Judge Nancy Brasel sentenced Salim Ahmed Said to 30 years in the Feeding Our Future fraud case.

Wednesday's 30 years is the sentence on a 2025 jury conviction. It is not a new verdict. Prosecutors asked for 40 years and the defense asked for 12, and the loss and restitution figures the outlets printed are not the same number. A forfeiture order MPR News described as already entered is property and a money judgment. Abdi Nur Salah's term in the same prosecutions is a different defendant's sentence.

MPR News reported Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, that U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel sentenced Salim Said, 37, to 30 years in federal prison. The Star Tribune reported the same day that Salim Ahmed Said was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years, that a jury found him guilty last year alongside Aimee Bock, and that the jury convicted him of 21 crimes, including wire fraud and federal programs bribery. MPR News reported the jury convicted him on all 21 counts, including wire fraud, bribery, and money laundering, and that Brasel sentenced Bock in May to nearly 42 years. The Star Tribune reported Bock is serving a nearly 42-year sentence. MPR News and the Star Tribune both reported three years of supervised release after the prison term. KARE 11 reported prosecutors asked for 40 years and that defense attorney Barry Zone asked for 12. FOX 9 reported the same 40-year request and the same 12-year request. The Associated Press reported he was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years and that the government said he was responsible for $44 million.

Judge Brasel told Said, in the words MPR News printed, "You took more than taxpayer money to enrich yourself." She said, "You took the reputation of our state down with you." MPR News also printed the next sentences: "It's my hope that one day the words 'Minnesota' and 'fraud' won't be spoken in the same sentence, but I fear that day is a long way off." FOX 9 printed a shorter form, "It is my hope that one day the words Minnesota and fraud will not be spoken in the same sentence," and reported she said he was responsible for "the breaking of the public's faith in government." MPR News reported Said read an apology: "I'm deeply sorry for the actions and my involvement in this very serious case," and, "You'll never see me again in this or any other courtroom on the wrong side of the law." KARE 11 printed a close version of that apology and spelled the prosecutor Rebecca Klein. MPR News spelled the prosecutor Rebecca Kline. Kline and Klein are the two spellings those stations used for the assistant U.S. attorney in the courtroom.

The money figures are not one figure. FOX 9 reported Said was ordered to pay more than $44 million in restitution. KSTP reported he must pay $44 million in restitution jointly with other defendants. MPR News reported prosecutors said Said and other defendants connected to Safari stole $44 million. The Star Tribune reported the loss connected to Safari Restaurant totals more than $44 million. KARE 11 reported he and his associates stole over $44 million. The Associated Press reported the government said he was responsible for $44 million. MPR News reported Kline said that at the height of the scheme Said personally submitted 6,000 phony meal claims for Safari and paid bribes to Bock and to Feeding Our Future employee Abdikerm Eidleh. MPR News reported Brasel had previously ordered him to forfeit $7.8 million, a 2021 Chevrolet pickup, a 2021 Mercedes-Benz, real estate in Minneapolis and Plymouth, and a commercial building in Columbus, Ohio, that had been a cooking school. MPR News reported that because he is a legal permanent resident he could face deportation. A possible immigration consequence is not a removal order printed in that story.

MPR News reported the 30-year term is the third-longest among 32 people sentenced so far, that only Bock and Abdiaziz Farah have received longer total terms, and that they are among 81 defendants charged since 2022. KARE 11 reported Said is the 32nd person sentenced in the scheme. MPR News reported Zone told the court Said was never in Bock's position and that Bock signed every check. That is the defense comparison. The jury conviction is the finding the sentence rests on. Abdi Nur Salah, sentenced Oct. 1, 2026, to 33 months after a guilty plea, is a different defendant in the Feeding Our Future prosecutions. That 33-month term is not Said's sentence.