2 of 5 people charged with conspiring to bribe Minnesota juror with a bag of cash plead not guilty

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two of five people charged with conspiring to bribe a Minnesota juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash in exchange for the acquittal of defendants in one of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud cases pleaded not guilty Wednesday.

Said Shafii Farah and Abdulkarim Shafii Farah were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tony Leung in Minneapolis. They are each charged with one count of conspiracy to bribe a juror, one count of bribery of a juror and one count of corruptly influencing a juror. Leung ordered both men detained before trial, saying the crimes of which they are accused threaten foundational aspects of the judicial system.

“In my decades on the bench, I've not experienced an attempt at bribing a juror in such a precalculated and organized and executed way,” Leung said. “That to me goes to the heart of an attack on our judicial system, on the rule of law.”

Attorneys for Said Farah and Abdulkarim Farah asked Leung to consider releasing them before trial with certain conditions, arguing the law sets no presumption of detention for the charges they face. They also said both men had significant ties to the community that would prevent them from fleeing.