Where Is Aimee Bock Now? Conviction, Sentence, and Appeal

Aimee Bock, the founder of the Minnesota nonprofit Feeding Our Future, is in federal custody serving a 500-month prison sentence — nearly 42 years — imposed on May 21, 2026, for her role at the center of a $250 million pandemic-era fraud scheme. She has appealed both her conviction and her sentence to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, with her opening brief due August 17, 2026.¹

What She Was Convicted Of

Bock founded Feeding Our Future around 2016 as a sponsor organization under two federally funded child nutrition programs administered by the Minnesota Department of Education. Sponsors enrolled local meal sites and submitted reimbursement claims to the state, which passed along federal money.²

Beginning around March 2020, Bock and her co-conspirators recruited people and entities to open more than 250 sites across Minnesota that claimed to serve thousands of children daily.³ The sites submitted fake attendance rosters, some generated from random-name websites, along with fabricated meal counts and invoices. Few of the claimed meals were ever served. Between 2019 and 2021, Feeding Our Future’s federal reimbursements jumped from roughly $3.4 million to nearly $200 million, an increase of about 2,800%.⁴

Feeding Our Future collected more than $18 million in administrative fees and solicited bribes and kickbacks from the sites it sponsored, often disguised as consulting fees paid to shell companies.⁵ Proceeds went to luxury vehicles, real estate in Minnesota, Ohio, Kentucky, Kenya, and Turkey, jewelry, and vacations.⁴

On September 20, 2022, U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger announced charges against 47 defendants across six indictments and three criminal informations. The total number of defendants eventually grew to roughly 70. Bock was named in a 61-count indictment filed in the District of Minnesota as case number 22-CR-223 and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery, and federal programs bribery.⁶

The Trial and Verdict

Bock went to trial on February 3, 2025, alongside co-defendant Salim Said, former co-owner of the Safari Restaurant meal site. The trial ran more than five weeks before U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel in Minneapolis.⁷

Her defense attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, told jurors Bock was a “scapegoat” taken advantage of by the actual fraudsters and by a dysfunctional state government. He argued she was obligated as a sponsor to submit the meal claims filed by sites, did not personally fabricate the numbers, and acted in good faith.⁸ Against her attorney’s advice, Bock waived her Fifth Amendment rights and testified in her own defense, telling the jury she was unaware of the fraud and denying that payments she received were bribes or kickbacks.⁹

Prosecutors said Bock orchestrated and protected the fraud, signing every check and application and certifying claims she knew to be false. When the state raised concerns, they said, she responded by accusing the Minnesota Department of Education of racism and filing a lawsuit rather than cooperating.¹⁰

On March 19, 2025, the jury convicted Bock on all seven counts of wire fraud and bribery. Said was convicted on all 21 counts against him, including wire fraud, bribery, and money laundering.⁷

The Sentence

Fourteen months later, on May 21, 2026, Judge Brasel sentenced Bock to 500 months in federal prison and ordered her to pay $243 million in restitution to the federal government.¹⁰ The judge described Bock as being at the epicenter of a “vortex of fraud” and said a lighter sentence “would not do justice to the people of Minnesota, who were in a very real sense the victims of this fraud.”³ Brasel also found that Bock had lied on the witness stand during her trial.¹¹

Before the sentence came down, Bock addressed the court. “I made mistakes, so many mistakes. If I could go back, I would do everything differently,” she said. “I don’t have the words to express just how horrible I feel.”¹² Udoibok called the sentence excessive. “She’s a brilliant woman. She has flaws. But her flaws don’t justify 42 years in prison,” he said.¹⁰

Prosecutor Rebecca Kline told the court: “Feeding Our Future was feeding no kids. They were feeding the bank accounts of fraudsters. The gaping hole in her narrative is that not one dollar of this fraud would have been possible without her.”¹⁰

Bock’s 500-month sentence is the longest handed down in the Feeding Our Future case by a wide margin. As of mid-2026, roughly 16 of the approximately 70 defendants had been sentenced, with other terms ranging from probation to 17.5 years.¹³

The Appeal

On June 16, 2026, Bock filed a notice of appeal with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, challenging both her conviction and the constitutionality and application of the sentencing guidelines used to calculate her prison term.¹⁴ The notice did not spell out the specific constitutional arguments. At sentencing, Udoibok had characterized Bock’s conduct as “gross negligence” rather than intentional wrongdoing.¹⁵

Bock’s opening appellate brief is due August 17, 2026, with federal prosecutors given three weeks to respond after that.¹

What Bock Has Said From Custody

After her conviction but before sentencing, Bock gave an exclusive jailhouse interview to CBS News. She denied being a “mastermind” or “mob boss” and said she believed the organization had done everything in its power to protect the program. She claimed the explosive growth in meal reimbursements happened with the knowledge and approval of Minnesota state officials, saying, “We relied on the state.” She denied living a lavish lifestyle, describing items the FBI seized from her home as “minimal jewelry,” while also saying she wished she could go back and “stop things, catch things.”¹⁶

Bock, 45, remains in federal custody pending the outcome of her appeal. Federal prosecutors have estimated that only $60 million to $75 million of the total fraud proceeds have been recovered so far.¹⁷

1
KSTP. Appeal for Feeding Our Future Founder Aimee Bock Docketed in Federal Court
2
Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor. Special Review of MDE Oversight of Feeding Our Future
3
U.S. Department of Justice. Feeding Our Future Ringleader Sentenced to 500 Months
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U.S. Department of Justice. Federal Charges Against 47 Defendants in $250 Million Feeding Our Future Fraud
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FBI. Dozens Charged in $250 Million COVID Fraud Scheme
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U.S. Government Publishing Office. United States v. Aimee Marie Bock, et al., 22-CR-223
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Sahan Journal. Feeding Our Future Trial Aimee Bock Salim Said Verdict
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Sahan Journal. Feeding Our Future Trial Closing Arguments
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MPR News. Bock Denies Knowledge of Feeding Our Future Fraud
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MPR News. Aimee Bock Feeding Our Future Fraud Sentencing
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CBS News Minnesota. Feeding Our Future Fraud Ringleader Aimee Bock Sentenced
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Minnesota Reformer. Feeding Our Future Mastermind Sentenced to Over 41 Years in Prison
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Sahan Journal. Who Has Been Sentenced in Feeding Our Future
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MPR News. Aimee Bock Files Appeal of Conviction and Sentence
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CBS News Minnesota. Feeding Our Future Aimee Bock Conviction Appeal Eighth Circuit
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CBS News. Aimee Bock Minnesota Fraud Feeding Our Future Interview
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Sahan Journal. Feeding Our Future Abdiaziz Farah Sentencing Empire Cuisine