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The latest defendant to be sentenced in the Feeding Our Future case is headed to federal prison for more than three years.

 in early 2024 to stealing $2.4 million from taxpayer- funded child nutrition programs as part of what federal prosecutors in Minnesota say was a $250 million scam involving 70 people and “the single largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country.”

Ross, 54, initially enrolled her St. Paul food shelf, House of Refuge Outreach Twin Cities, in the programs under the sponsorship of the defunct nonprofit Feeding Our Future, whose founder Aimee Bock is 

Ross claimed that her charity operated food distribution sites at a dozen churches throughout the Twin Cities, but religious leaders told federal agents that their churches had never taken part in the food programs. 

Like others convicted in the scheme, Ross submitted phony meal reimbursement requests using fake children’s names. But prosecutors say that she went further, and claimed falsely that House of Refuge also delivered meals to families at their homes. 

An Osseo woman, identified in court documents as Maria G., told investigators that her signature was falsified on a 2021 home meal delivery authorization form, which also claimed falsely that she had five children. 

Prosecutors say that Ross gave more than $900,000 to her family over three months in late 2021 and early 2022 by giving them “no-show” jobs.  She put a disabled family member on the House of Refuge payroll and claimed that he worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week for $35 an hour while also receiving up to nine hours a day in care from an at-home personal care assistant. 

Ross admitted spending the money on vacations, a suite at Target Center and a house near White Bear Lake.

Prosecutors noted that while Ross was defrauding the child nutrition programs, she was on probation for stealing $70,000 from an Arden Hills medical office where she worked as an administrative assistant. Ross pleaded guilty in 2016 to a state charge of theft by swindle. 

During an hour-long hearing on Friday in Minneapolis, defense attorney Earl Gray argued for house arrest and probation, and said that Ross cares for her elderly mother, mother-in-law and young grandchildren and sending his client to prison would punish Ross’ family members.

Gray also noted that House of Refuge provided actual meals to people in need.

“She’s spent years serving other people,” Gray said. “Many, many people have gone through her food line before this fraud crime. She doesn’t want to avoid accountability, but also she asks that the court be fair.”

“This case like all the others demonstrates the depth of fraud in the state of Minnesota,” countered lead prosecutor Joe Thompson. “Ms. Ross’ case involved the corruption of a nonprofit, a food shelf that we would all celebrate normally.” 

The investigation into Feeding Our Future became public in January 2022 when the FBI executed search warrants at the nonprofit’s headquarters and more than a dozen other locations around the Twin Cities. 

But the following May, Ross doubled down on her false claims, 

 that House of Refuge was forced to stop serving “3,000 children every week” after the Minnesota Department of Education, which disburses federal money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, cut off funding.

According to court documents, Ross split the fraud proceeds with Hanna Marakegn, who claimed that her business, Brava Cafe, sold food to House of Refuge. Marakegn pleaded guilty in 2022 and is awaiting sentencing. 

After handing Ross a 43-month prison term and ordering her to repay the $2.4 million, Judge Nancy Brasel said Ross’ actions were “flagrant fraud” and worse than the crimes of some of the others charged in the Feeding Our Future case. 

“You didn’t do one part of the fraud, you did the whole thing,” Brasel said. “You created the forms, you submitted the forms, you created the rosters and the food counts. And that’s different from someone who has one sliver of a larger fraud.”

Brasel ordered Ross, who remains free, to report to federal prison on March 25.  

Ross was the third defendant to be sentenced in the case. In October, Brasel 

sent Mohamed Ismail to prison for 12 years

, and in January she handed a prison term of 

 to Mukhtar Shariff. Ismail and Shariff were among five defendants 

 in 2024 at the first Feeding Our Future trial.  

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Sharon Ross of Big Lake pleaded guilty in early 2024 to stealing $2.4 million from taxpayer-funded child nutrition programs as part of what federal prosecutors in Minnesota say was a $250 million scam involving 70 people and “the single largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country.”

Judge sentences Feeding Our Future defendant to 3 1/2 years, citing ‘flagrant fraud’

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