MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A judge on Thursday handed down an extraordinary prison sentence — nearly 42 years — to the former leader of a Minnesota nonprofit who was convicted in a staggering $250 million fraud case that helped ignite an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration.

Aimee Bock ran Feeding Our Future, which had claimed it helped provide millions of meals to needy children during the pandemic. The U.S. Justice Department, however, said she was atop the “single largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country.”

“I understand I failed. I failed the public, my family, everyone,” Bock, 45, said in federal court.

After the hearing, authorities announced charges against 15 more people accused of fraud in receiving federal payments for a variety of social services administered through Minnesota's state government. The FBI said one man jumped from a fourth-floor balcony to avoid arrest.

“We will claw back every dollar you have stolen from the American people,” Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said, noting that the government sent more prosecutors and agents to Minnesota this year.

President Donald Trump used the fraud cases against Bock and many others to initially justify a massive surge of federal agents to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area last winter to target immigrants, leading to repeated confrontations between residents and those officers and the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

COVID-19 brought changes to a federal program that typically fed children through schools. Restaurants could participate, and food distribution was extended to sites outside schools.

Investigators said Bock's nonprofit was at the center of a crime network that included a web of partner organizations, phony distribution sites, kickbacks and fake lists of children. Feeding Our Future recruited people to create sites throughout Minnesota, and claims for reimbursement quickly followed, according to the government.

“Aimee was a god,” a witness testified at trial.

Bock had long proclaimed her innocence but was convicted of conspiracy, fraud and bribery. Investigators said she and co-conspirators enriched themselves with international travel, real estate, luxury vehicles and other lavish spending.

Source: WPLG