Court filing — United States v. Ahmed Mohamed Artan (Feeding Our Future) (Dkt. 986, D. Minn.)

Summary

Defendant's Position Regarding Sentencing, filed August 10, 2026 as Doc. 986 in United States of America v. Ahmed Mohamed Artan, Crim. No. 22-223 (NEB/DTS), U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. The filing summarizes the defendant's continuing objections to the presentence investigation report, including to paragraphs about Olive Management Inc., a real estate purchase and the restitution amount, and states that none of the objections affect the guidelines calculations. It describes the defendant's role as receiving and forwarding meal count sheets and recommends a sentence of probation not to exceed 33 months. It states that the bottom of the calculated guidelines range is 33 months and that, if incarceration is deemed necessary, it should not exceed a week. The signature block names Daniel L. Gerdts of Gerdts Law PLLC, with s/ Daniel L. Gerdts.

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“Court filing — United States v. Ahmed Mohamed Artan (Feeding Our Future) (Dkt. 986, D. Minn.).” Original at archive.org. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/court-filing-united-states-v-bock-et-al-feeding-our-future-dkt-986-d-m-8b564db6c0/, SHA-256 788faa4883440af7f3b1d9c9dc29ca4fb408be52aff6af3db2340aa3e8ae9981.

Full text

CASE 0:22-cr-00223-NEB-DTS Doc. 986 Filed 08/10/26 Page 1 of 9

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA

United States of America, )
)
Plaintiff, ) DEFENDANT’S POSITION REGARDING
) SENTENCING
vs. )
)
Ahmed Mohamed Artan, ) Crim. No. 22-223 (NEB/DTS)
)
Defendant. )

Defendant Ahmed Mohamed Artan, through his counsel subscribed, respectfully

submits this Position Regarding Sentencing pursuant to Local Rule 83.10(e).

Congress has directed sentencing courts “to impose a sentence sufficient, but

not greater than necessary, to comply with the purposes” of sentencing. 18 U.S.C. §

3553(a). With that mandate in mind, this position pleading summarizes Defendant’s

continuing objections to the presentence investigation report, it discusses important

considerations regarding the history and characteristics of Defendant Artan and his

family, and it specifically recommends a total sentence of 33 months – of probationary

supervision.

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CASE 0:22-cr-00223-NEB-DTS Doc. 986 Filed 08/10/26 Page 2 of 9

CONTINUED OBJECTIONS TO THE PRESENTENCE REPORT

The various versions of the presentence report, and the accompanying changes

to the structure and numbering of paragraphs have made it very confusing to

understand where changes have been made, and to explain where relevant objections

still lie. With that in mind, and acknowledging that none of the objections affect the

guidelines calculations, the remaining objections set forth below are still relevant to

understanding Mr. Artan’s role in the offense.

Para. 62: This was previously designated as paragraph 60. Mr. Artan did not

create Olive Management Inc. and was not involved with its day-to-day operation. Mr.

Artan, for example, did not prepare the fraudulent meal count sheets, invoices, or

attendance rosters, but he did knowingly forward the emails with the meal counts that

he received from Olive management and Omar-Hashim. Because Olive Management

Inc. was a for-profit business, the meal counts were sent through Mr. Artan and his

non-profit. Mr. Artan’s role consisted in receiving and forwarding the fraudulent meal

counts. And while Olive Management Inc. may have received more than $7.4 million

dollars in Federal Child Nutrition Program reimbursements, Mr. Artan received only

a small portion as a fee for his services.

Paras. 65 and 69 (formerly 63 and 67): There are similar errors in these

paragraphs. Mr. Artan did not prepare the fraudulent meal count sheets for the entities

discussed, nor did he receive the reimbursements identified. He did participate in the

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CASE 0:22-cr-00223-NEB-DTS Doc. 986 Filed 08/10/26 Page 3 of 9

scheme, however, by receiving and forwarding emails with the fraudulent meal count

sheets attached, and was paid a fee for his participation.

Para. 71: This paragraph is completely new. It contains the same errors

regarding the role of Mr. Artan.

Paragraph 89 (formerly paragraph 85): Mr. Artan did not help to transfer more

than $1,00,000 in federal child nutrition program funds for the purchase of the

identified real estate. As set forth in the plea agreement, Mr. Artan’s contribution was

a $60,000 transfer from his transportation company account.

Paragraph 98 (formerly 94): The amount of restitution to be ordered should

equal the amount received by Mr. Artan. That amount is accurately calculated in

paragraph 92 as $205,795.54. It is true that the plea agreement, as amended by hand at

the plea hearing, reflects that it should be between $250K and $666,422, but the “5”

and the “0” were inadvertently transposed, as paragraph 92 makes clear. See R. Doc.

670 at 9, 11.

Para. 120 (formerly 116): Defendant objects to all factual assertions in this

paragraph.

Para. 128 (formerly 124): This paragraph should be amended to note that the

children are only temporarily residing with the uncle. As noted in paragraph 134, on

14 November 2025, he was awarded sole legal and physical custody of the children,

and the living arrangements have been in flux since Mr. Artan lost his job. Mr. Artan

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CASE 0:22-cr-00223-NEB-DTS Doc. 986 Filed 08/10/26 Page 4 of 9

and his children plan to move into a new apartment in New Brighton later this month,

as evidence by the lease agreement attached as a sealed exhibit to this filing.

Not included in the presentence report is the recent filing on 20 July 2026 by the

children’s mother seeking to terminate her parental rights (see exhibit filed under seal).

Para. 136 (formerly 132): Defendant objects to all factual assertions in this

paragraph.

Para. 144 (formerly 140): Defendant objects to all factual assertions in this

paragraph.

Para. 186 (formerly 182): The mandatory restitution amount suggested by this

paragraph should be amended as discussed in the objections to paragraph 98 above.

Para. 193 (formerly 189): Same comments as noted in the objections to

paragraph 128 above. Defendant also objects to the entire last sentence and any

inferred factual assertions as completely unwarranted and unsubstantiated.

OFFENSE CONDUCT

The Court is well acquainted with the expansive fraud scheme that gives rise to the

charges in this case. Mr. Artan’s minor role in the scheme came to fruition in October

2020, shortly after the Minnesota Department of Education announced that it was no

longer approving food sites run by restaurants and other for-profit companies.

Defendant Artan was recruited to be president of the non-profit entity Stigma-Free

International, which conveniently became a go-to non-profit for use in carrying out

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CASE 0:22-cr-00223-NEB-DTS Doc. 986 Filed 08/10/26 Page 5 of 9

the scheme. Artan’s co-conspirators used Stigma-Free International to open a

number of new Federal Child Nutrition Program sites around the state of Minnesota,

including in Willmar, Mankato, St. Cloud, Waite Park, and St. Paul. These sites

claimed to be serving meals to tens of thousands of children each day throughout the

state of Minnesota, for which the co-conspirators fraudulently claimed and received

millions of dollars in Federal Child Nutrition Program funds.

Over the 12-month period from November 2020 to November 2021, there

were fraudulent claims submitted for reimbursement from nearly 5 million meals to

children at the Stigma-Free International sites. Mr. Artan received the fraudulent

meal count sheets and attendance rosters by email to his Stigma Free International

account and then knowingly forwarded them on for payment. He received fee for

his services. Mr. Artan performed a similar service, for a fee, for Olive Management

Inc., and likewise used Optimum Community Services in the same scheme.

ADDITIONAL SENTENCING CONSIDERATIONS

The presentence report very briefly touches on Mr. Artan’s displacement from his home

in Somalia, noting that he lived in Mogadishu until he was about six years old and

then, “[f]rom 1991 until 2003, he resided in various refugee camps in Kenya.” P.S.R.

¶ 38. Paragraph 127 of the Report discusses the journey in a little more detail.

In short, life was not perfect growing up in refugee camps while his country

was shattered by war, but Mr. Artan got through it, and eventually immigrated to the

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CASE 0:22-cr-00223-NEB-DTS Doc. 986 Filed 08/10/26 Page 6 of 9

United States in 2006. He reached Minnesota later that year, where he has remained

ever since. As noted in paragraph 127, Defendant struggled at first with acclimating

to his new life in Minnesota, but he enrolled in school, eventually earning a B.A.

from Concordia College and started a family along the way.

Professionally, he has become quite involved in helping economically

disadvantaged people stay in their homes and apartments through housing outreach,

homeownership advising, and housing workshops while employed at a few different

agencies. He became acquainted with Minneapolis City Council member Jamal

Osman who worked in a similar capacity before being elected to the city council.

To the great disadvantage of the family, Mr. Artan’s wife developed an opioid

addiction, and the couple separated in 2018. His wife sought to gain custody of the

children and moved to San Diego. His wife’s addiction grew worse, however, and

after she had been evicted from her apartment in San Diego and suffered an

overdose, Mr. Artan went to California to take care of the children and bring them

back home to Minnesota. Mr. Artan became a single parent struggling to take care

of the kids and enduring continuing struggles with his former spouse when she

would show up demanding repeatedly to have custody of the kids.

It was at about this time, just after Mr. Osman was elected to city council, that

Mr. Artan was named president of Osman’s former non-profit, Stigma-Free

International. Mr. Artan was economically struggling at the time, unable to devote

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CASE 0:22-cr-00223-NEB-DTS Doc. 986 Filed 08/10/26 Page 7 of 9

the time to work that was required by his employer while trying to take care of two

young children. That is when he was convinced to permit Stigma-Free International

to become a conduit for funneling fraudulent claims to the state for reimbursement

from the Federal Child Nutrition Program funds. His role was limited, but he was

promised a fee for his services from any reimbursements that were paid on the claims

that he forwarded from the non-profit. He eventually agreed to do the same thing for

another company called Olive Management, and later used another non-profit,

Optimum Community Services for the same purpose.

Mr. Artan is still struggling with the dual tasks of taking care of his kids and

trying to earn enough money to get by. He and the kids have had a temporary

arrangement with his Aunt and Uncle to let the kids stay at their house, while Mr.

Artan sleeps at a friend’s house and saves up enough money lease a new apartment.

That arrangement is scheduled to end this month, on 20 August, when the new lease

on an apartment in New Brighton begins.

In the meantime, last November, the courts finally awarded Mr. Artan sole

physical and legal custody of the children. That was followed by the filing less than

a month ago of a petition to terminate the parental rights of Mr. Farah’s former

spouse – the children’s mother. The petition was filed by Ms. Farah to terminate her

own rights, based on her acknowledged abandonment of the children and her

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CASE 0:22-cr-00223-NEB-DTS Doc. 986 Filed 08/10/26 Page 8 of 9

inability to care for them. Based on the petition, it appears that she has relocated to

Oregon.

SENTENCING RECOMMENDATION

As noted in the presentence report, Mr. Artan has no criminal history, and has

never spent a day in jail. Since his arrest four years ago, he has been on pretrial release

and has complied with every condition of that release. Any sentence that includes a

period of incarceration would be a very severe sanction indeed. It also will contribute

to the family’s instability just when the mother of Mr. Artan’s children is seeking

formally to terminate her parental rights. A period of incarceration would do little to

advance the goals of sentencing in this case, and plenty to delay a fresh start for Mr.

Artan and his children.

Undersigned counsel recommends a sentence of probation. If an element of

incarceration is deemed necessary, it should not exceed a week, and then be followed

by supervise release with appropriate conditions. The bottom of the calculated

guidelines range for the sentence is 33 months. Counsel recommends that the period of

probation not exceed 33 months, considering that Mr. Artan already has successfully

served four years of supervision.

The suggested sentence is certainly sufficient to achieve all of the statutory

purposes of sentencing in this case.

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CASE 0:22-cr-00223-NEB-DTS Doc. 986 Filed 08/10/26 Page 9 of 9

Dated: 10 August 2026 Respectfully submitted,

GERDTS LAW PLLC

s/ Daniel L. Gerdts
_____________________________
Daniel L. Gerdts (#207329)
331 Second Avenue South, Suite 705
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612-800-5086
daniel@danielgerdtslaw.com

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