Feeding Our Future founder Aimee Bock apologized in court as she was sentenced to more than 41 1/2 years and ordered to pay nearly $243 million in restitution at Thursday’s sentencing.
“It was never my goal to do this,” Bock told the court, with the prosecutors portraying her as the ringleader and “mastermind” of a massive pandemic-era fraud scheme involving federal child nutrition funds.
“I failed to protect people. I really believed in the work I was doing. Now I see how wrong that was. I’m sorry to the public. I’m sorry to the court. Sorry to my family, sorry to my children. I never intended for this to go the way that it went.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Prosecutors argued Bock had shown no remorse and had refused to accept responsibility from the beginning. They said that when the Minnesota Department of Education began scrutinizing the operation and hearing from whistleblowers, Bock doubled down by suing the state and accusing officials of racism and discrimination against program recipients.
At one point in court, prosecutors held up a T-shirt that read, “Feeding Our Future feeds our kids / Minnesota Department of Education won’t,” describing it as an example of how Bock and others publicly attacked state officials while knowingly stealing money meant to feed children during the pandemic.
Prosecutors also said Bock accepted bribes and kickbacks, controlled proceeds from the scheme, handled claims, distributed money and signed checks — some worth tens of thousands of dollars and others worth millions.
Bock’s defense attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, pushed back on the government’s characterization, countering the court’s claims that “she did not organize all the fraud” and “went into a vortex.”
He said Bock “is still a good person” who gave access to people she should not have trusted.
“The people happened to be minorities,” Udoibok said. “She thought she was giving them access to be good citizens and feed their families.”
Bock will remain in custody until the Department of Corrections determines her placement.
Her attorney asked that she be assigned to a prison near Minnesota so she can receive visits from her family, and the judge said she would make that request.
Fox News’ Madelin Fuerste contributed to this report.
