MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The former leader of a Minnesota nonprofit who was convicted for her role at the center of a staggering $250 million fraud case that helped ignite a federal immigration crackdown should spend 50 years in prison, prosecutors argued in a court filing.
Aimee Bock, who ran the organization Feeding our Future, which claimed it helped provide millions of meals to children in need during the pandemic, is set to be sentenced Thursday in federal court in Minneapolis.
“Feeding Our Future operated like a cash pipeline, open to anyone willing to submit fraudulent claims and pay kickbacks,” prosecutors said in the Monday filing. “The ripple effects of her actions are profound, immeasurable, and will have lasting consequences for both Minnesota and the nation.”
Bock was convicted last year of multiple counts involving conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery. She has long insisted she is innocent.
Her lawyer, Kenneth Udoibok, argued in a separate filing that she shouldn't have to serve for more than 37 months in prison, saying she had provided information to investigators. He argued that Bock had been unfairly painted as the mastermind and insisted that two co-defendants were responsible for running the scams.
The nonprofit sat atop a fraud network that included a web of partner organizations, phony distribution sites, kickbacks and fake lists of children supposedly being fed, prosecutors say. Dozens of people, many from the state’s large Somali community, have been convicted for their roles in a series of overlapping food fraud cases that have spent years in the courts.
President Donald Trump, who has long derided Somalis, last year blasted the state as “a hub of fraudulent money laundering activity.” He criticized the leadership of Gov. Tim Walz, the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee in the 2024 election, and pointed to the frauds as justification for launching the immigration crackdown that shook the city.
“Somali gangs are terrorizing the people of that great State, and BILLIONS of Dollars are missing. Send them back to where they came from,” Trump wrote on social media.
Bock is white and the U.S. Attorney’s Office says the overwhelming majority of defendants in the cases are of Somali descent. Most are U.S. citizens.
FILE - Aimee Bock, founder and executive director of the nonprofit organization Feeding Our Future, arrives at the Minneapolis federal courthouse with her attorney, Ken Udoibok, right, on March 19, 2025, in Minneapolis. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP, File)
DENVER (AP) — Dylan Coghlan scored his first playoff goal to get Vegas rolling, Carter Hart made 36 saves and the Golden Knights opened the Western Conference Final by holding off the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Wednesday night.
Trailing 3-0 in the third period, Colorado made it 3-2 with 2:21 remaining on a power-play goal from Gabriel Landeskog. Nic Dowd sealed it for Vegas with an empty-net goal.
Pavel Dorofeyev and Brett Howden also scored for the Golden Knights, who took advantage of several defensive miscommunications by the Avalanche as they juggled their blue-line pairings with Cale Makar sidelined by an upper-body injury.
Coghlan scored his first NHL goal since Dec. 17, 2021. The 28-year-old defenseman spent most of the season in the American Hockey League. He's played the last five postseason games with the recent injury to Jeremy Lauzon.
“When you say Dylan Coghlan to me, I think of no fear,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “I think he's one of our best defensemen since he's been with us and in the lineup. ... He's a bit unflappable."
It was a smothering performance most of the game by the Golden Knights as they kept the pressure on goaltender Scott Wedgewood, while controlling the Avalanche's speed through the neutral zone. Vegas also had 23 blocked shots.
“We didn't play a flawless game by any means,” Tortorella said. “We have work to do.”
Valeri Nichushkin had a goal at 5:53 of the third to make it 3-1.
Hart was stellar most of the evening, making one sprawling save after another. He got some help from his post, too, when Logan O’Connor's liner clanged off it in the first period.
“We know they've got a lot of skill on their team, and we respect that,” Hart said. “But you can’t respect them too much, and I thought we did a good job of defending and limiting their time and space.”
Mitch Marner added an assist for Vegas to give him 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in this postseason. It was Dorofeyev’s NHL-leading 10th goal of this postseason. The Golden Knights didn’t have injured captain Mark Stone.
“We’re trying to play our game, not worrying too much about countering off another team," Tortorella explained. "They feel very comfortable in it.”
Game 2 is Friday night in Denver.
The Avalanche dropped their first game at home after winning five straight through the first two rounds. Wedgewood made 24 saves.
“It was kind of a nothing game, and then they got a few goals,” Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon said. "Really good team, obviously, but I thought we did a lot of damage to ourselves. Just guys kind of everywhere. Execution, like I said, needs to be better. Obviously, we’re capable of being a lot better than that.”
Colorado tried some different combinations without Makar. It led to some confusion, with Coghlan sneaking into the middle of the ice and lining a shot through the pads of Wedgewood to break a scoreless game in the second period.
“There's definitely a trickle-down effect to that," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of not having Makar. “But he's not playing. We have find a way.”
Coghlan has bounced around over his career, spending his first two seasons with Vegas before stints with Carolina and Winnipeg. He returned to the Golden Knights last July in part, he said, because of the bonds he'd formed.
“This is probably the best I've felt in my whole career,” said Coghlan, who played in three regular-season games for Vegas this season. “Whoever it is I'm playing with I'm very comfortable out there with them. They make it pretty easy on me. We have some pretty world-class players.”
The Golden Knights and Avalanche are meeting in a best-of-seven series for the second time. In 2021, Colorado won the opening two games of their second-round series before Vegas captured four straight.
“ Definitely things we can get better at,” Landeskog said. “But we knew it was (going to) be a long series.”
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Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog, right, blocks the shot by Vegas Golden Knights right wing Pavel Dorofeyev during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Scott Wedgewood, front, makes a glove save as left wing Gabriel Landeskog, back left, and Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel looks on during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella looks on during the first period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Dylan Coghlan, front, shoots the puck for a goal after driving past Colorado Avalanche center Brock Nelson during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Dylan Coghlan, front left, is congratulated after scoring a goal by defenseman Shea Theodore, back left, and center Tomas Hertl during the second period in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
