A mysterious woman dropped off a bag with $120,000 at a fraud trial juror's suburban Minneapolis home late Sunday night, prompting outrage from Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson.
"This is stuff that happens in mob movies," he said in court.
The woman, dressed in all black, explained to the juror's father-in-law, who had answered the door, that if the 23-year-old juror voted to acquit the seven defendants in a federal trial against the Feeding Our Future charity, there would "be more of that present tomorrow."
She then handed over a white floral gift bag filled with $100, $50, and $20 bills, according to the Star Tribune.
An FBI search warrant claimed the woman even used the juror's first name, despite her name never being made public.
The juror immediately notified Spring Lake Park police and turned over the bag of cash. The judge dismissed her from the jury in the high-profile trial that has now entered its seventh week.
The surprise development came just before closing arguments. The jury began deliberations late Monday afternoon.
Prosecutors have referred to the case as one of the largest pandemic fraud schemes in the country, with 70 people charged with stealing more than $250 million in federal money meant to feed needy children.
"This is outrageous behavior," Thompson told U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel in a Minneapolis courtroom Monday.
"This can't be allowed," Thompson said of bribing a juror, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. "This strikes at the integrity of our system."
The judge questioned the remaining 17 jurors and alternates to ensure they hadn't had any contact with anyone involving the case within the past six weeks.
The judge also ordered the defendants' phones confiscated by an FBI agent to investigate the leak of jurors' names.
She also ordered heightened security in the courtroom and detained all seven defendants.
"This juror was terrified. This juror remains at risk for retaliation," Brasel said, according to MPRNews.
Defense attorneys called the attempted bribery "very troubling," but they argued against detaining the defendants, none of whom have been in custody since the start of 2023.
