MN - Juror Dismissed after Reporting Bribe Attempt in $40 million Pandemic Fraud Case Minneapolis 3 June 2024

[tlcya]

MINNEAPOLIS — A juror was dismissed Monday after reporting that a woman dropped a bag of $120,000 in cash at her home and offered her more money if she would vote to acquit seven people charged with stealing more than $40 million from a program meant to feed children during the pandemic.
[snip]
The 23-year-old juror said she immediately turned over the bag of cash to police. She said a woman left it with her father-in-law Sunday with the message that she’d get another bag of cash if she voted to acquit, according to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Juror says someone left her bag with $120,000 cash and promise of more if she’ll acquit

It was a present for the 23-year-old juror in the Feeding Our Future federal trial, the woman explained to the juror's father-in-law, who answered the door just before 9 p.m. If the juror voted to acquit the seven defendants in the fraud case, there would "be more of that present tomorrow," the woman said, handing over a white floral gift bag filled with $100, $50 and $20 bills, according to an FBI search warrant filed Monday.
[snip]
Brasel also ordered the defendants' phones confiscated by an FBI agent to investigate the leak of jurors' names, added security to the courtroom and detained all seven defendants. Defense attorneys called the attempted bribery "un-American," "very troubling," "horrific" and "unprecedented," but they had argued against detaining the defendants, none of whom have been in custody since the start of 2023. One has a GPS ankle monitoring device.
Juror in Feeding Our Future trial excused after woman offers bag of $120,000 in cash to acquit defendants

 

[Kip]

It seems odd that they would kick her off the jury. Isn't she the kind of juror you'd want?

It also seems odd that someone would leave that much cash with someone whom they had no idea whether or not she would be open to a bribe.

 

[friendlysleuther]

They're going to have to completely sequester the next jury... theres no way they can continue on. GUARANTEED that others have been bribed..

 

[ch_13]

It seems odd that they would kick her off the jury. Isn't she the kind of juror you'd want?

It also seems odd that someone would leave that much cash with someone whom they had no idea whether or not she would be open to a bribe.

From the article:
Brasel said the jurors are concerned about their families' safety and the juror whose home was approached is terrified. "The juror remains at risk for retaliation," she said.

Sounds like there were concerns about the safety of the juror and her family. I would hope they are getting police protection.

They're going to have to completely sequester the next jury... theres no way they can continue on. GUARANTEED that others have been bribed..

The article says the remainder of the jury has already been questioned and none reported any bribery attempts. They have also been sequestered.

In a rare move as a result of the incident, Brasel sequestered the jury, which now has 12 jurors and five alternates. One by one, Brasel questioned the remaining 17 jurors to ensure they hadn't had any contact with anyone about the case in the past six weeks. They all confirmed they hadn't.

This seems to be a pretty open-and-shut case in terms of guilt. If we get a hung jury with one or two holdouts it will obviously point right at them being bribed.

 

[sunspun]

Seems like they would've tried to bribe more than just the one juror. Must be plenty of cash available! But makes me wonder about all the other jurors. Was one or more of them also offered a bag of cash - but didn't turn it over or report it to LE, like this one did? How would they ever know if so?

Actually, the person who left the bag of cash w/this juror seemed so careless about it, that if they HAVE tried bribing other jurors as well, LE would probably find out about it whether the juror reported it or not. I mean, it said she left the bag w/another person, not the juror him or herself, for one thing, AND seemed to make no secret about what it was for to them! She probably didn't worry at all about being caught on surveillance cameras or Ring cams or whatever.

I bet another juror/s was/were also offered a bribe.

 

[friendlysleuther]

Seems like they would've tried to bribe more than just the one juror. Must be plenty of cash available! But makes me wonder about all the other jurors. Was one or more of them also offered a bag of cash - but didn't turn it over or report it to LE, like this one did? How would they ever know if so?

Actually, the person who left the bag of cash w/this juror seemed so careless about it, that if they HAVE tried bribing other jurors as well, LE would probably find out about it whether the juror reported it or not. I mean, it said she left the bag w/another person, not the juror him or herself, for one thing, AND seemed to make no secret about what it was for to them! She probably didn't worry at all about being caught on surveillance cameras or Ring cams or whatever.

I bet another juror/s was/were also offered a bribe.

I agree.. It's very hard for me to believe she's the only one that was bribed.

 

[LadyL]

wow
I'm surprised they didn't dismiss the entire jury and start over fully sequestered

 

[sunspun]

wow
I'm surprised they didn't dismiss the entire jury and start over fully sequestered

I really think they should.

They've done that for lesser things elsewhere, imo.

The way that they determined no other jurors had been bribed was... by asking them if they had?

(" One by one, Brasel questioned the remaining 17 jurors to ensure they hadn't had any contact with anyone about the case in the past six weeks. They all confirmed they hadn't.") Juror in Feeding Our Future trial excused after woman offers bag of $120,000 in cash to acquit defendants

 

[iusedtofloat]

It seems odd that they would kick her off the jury. Isn't she the kind of juror you'd want?

It also seems odd that someone would leave that much cash with someone whom they had no idea whether or not she would be open to a bribe.

she cannot objectively look at the case, now.

 

[bestill]

wow
I'm surprised they didn't dismiss the entire jury and start over fully sequestered

Agree.

 

[amandab]

wow
I'm surprised they didn't dismiss the entire jury and start over fully sequestered

Indeed. That's the only way one could objectively trust the jury.

 

[ch_13]

I disagree that they should dismiss the jury and start over. A mistrial would give the defense exactly what they wanted. It's functionally equivalent to a hung jury.

People seem to be assuming that members of the jury were in fact bribed and are lying about it to the court. I don't necessarily agree.

Look, these defendants aren't exactly geniuses. They've already been imprisoned and their electronic devices confiscated. The FBI will tear through their lives until they figure out how they found the juror and who did the bribing. In short order the FBI will also be able to determine if any other jurors were targeted. If at that time they find out another juror was contacted then they can call the mistrial, but until then they may as well proceed with the case and let the jury deliberate. They've already been sequestered so further tampering is unlikely.