Said Sentenced to 30 Years in Minnesota Meal Program Scam

The federal government has closed the book on one of the largest fraud cases in Minnesota history with a 30-year prison sentence for Salim Said.

Said, 37, faces three decades behind bars for his role in a scheme that drained $44 million from the Child and Adult Care Food Program. The government calculated that the fraud occurred over 21 consecutive months during the pandemic. While the state’s education department received numerous complaints about the nonprofit involved, auditors later found that officials often told the group to police itself. The financial loss forced the state to seek repayment for millions of dollars in unclaimed benefits.

Said operated Safari Restaurant in Minneapolis and recruited others to help inflate meal counts. He claimed a daily distribution of 6,000 meals, yet FBI cameras recorded only about 40 people collecting food per day. Prosecutors stated that the listed children were entirely fictitious. The judge noted that the defendant served a calculated and lucrative lie to the state.

Said was convicted in 2025 alongside Aimee Bock, the leader of Feeding Our Future. Bock, who devised the scheme, is serving a 42-year sentence and must repay $242 million. Said was born in Somalia and denied the allegations during his trial, arguing that many meals were delivered off site. At his sentencing on Wednesday, he expressed remorse and changed his stance from the trial testimony.

Defence lawyer Barry Zone had requested a 12-year sentence and disputed the government’s characterization of Said as the architect of the plan. The case has drawn national attention due to President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on the scheme. Trump used the fraud to criticize Democratic Governor Tim Walz for failing to stop it. The president also cited the case as a reason for an immigration crackdown in the state’s largest cities. Following the criticism, Walz announced in January that he would not run for re-election.

The stolen funds were used to purchase a $1.2 million home, commercial real estate, and an $87,000 pickup truck. Judge Nancy Brasel told the defendant that he took more than taxpayer dollars to enrich himself. The judge also stated that the defendant took the reputation of the state down with him. The pandemic allowed restaurants to participate in a federal program that typically fed children through schools, extending distribution to places outside school buildings.