Ahmed Yasin Ali became the 20th defendant in the sprawling Feeding Our Future scancal to be sentenced.
Your corresondent was there.
Ali was defendant No. 37 (out of 80, overall), one of three members of the JigJiga group of defendants. He was the 53rd to be convicted either through guilty plea or courtroom trial.
Ali was given just a probation-only sentence, with the probation lasting for the statutory minimum of 1 year. In pronouncing the sentence, district Judge Nancy Brasel described a probation-only felony sentence as “rare,” but this represents the fourth she’s handed down, just in this case (4 out of 20, or 20 percent of all sentences.
Ali was assisted this evening by a taxpayer-paid, court-appointed attorney and a taxpayer-paid Somali-language interpreter. He reportedly speaks little English and is not an American citizen.
In the silver-linings department, the convicted felon is scheduled for a hearing in Immigratino Court next week to discuss his status.
Ali’s lawyer informed the court today about his fear of being deported back to his native land, a nation that Ali has visited severy times in recent years as he awaited trial on multiple fraud charges. I guess that means Somalia is a great place to visit but you wouldn’t want to be deported there.
Some other courtroom events for the Feeding Our Future case coming up later in August:
