A judge on Thursday, May 21, sentenced the leader of a Minnesota nonprofit organization to more than four decades in prison in a nearly $250 million COVID-19 pandemic relief fraud scheme that exploited a federal child nutrition program.Aimee Bock, one of 70 people charged in the case, was convicted for her role by a jury in March 2025 alongside her co-defendant, former restaurant owner Salim Ahmed Said.Bock was the founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future, whose employees recruited restaurant owners and others to open food distribution sites across the state of Minnesota during the pandemic."These sites, created and operated by Bock, Said, and others, fraudulently claimed to be serving meals to thousands of children a day within just days or weeks of being formed," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota said.“This was a vortex of fraud, and you were at the epicenter,” U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel told Bock during the sentencing hearing at the Minneapolis federal courthouse, as reported by the Saint Cloud Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. "I made mistakes, so many mistakes," Bock, 45, said during the sentencing hearing. "If I could go back, I would do everything differently. I don’t have the words to express just how horrible I feel."What happened with Feeding our Future?The U.S. Attorney's Office said Bock and Said oversaw a "massive fraud scheme" in Minneapolis that was "carried out by sites under Feeding Our Future’s sponsorship."The plan was tied to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Federal Child Nutrition Program, which provides meals to children in need. The resource, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed for-profit restaurants to run federally funded food distribution sites as long as a nonprofit organization sponsored them.Prosecutors said restaurant owners and others bribed Feeding Our Future employees to get the organization to sponsor sham distribution sites. The participants then spent federal funds intended for the sites on personal purchases, including luxury cars, houses, jewelry and resort property abroad.Prosecutors accused Bock of being the "mastermind," as previously reported by USA TODAY.The case drew further attention in 2024, when five people were charged with conspiring to bribe a juror with a bag of $120,000. Dozens of other defendants have already pleaded guilty in the case, while at least seven others have been convicted, according to prosecutors.Earlier this year, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz ended his reelection bid on the heels of mounting pressure that engulfed his administration over the scandal.What was Aimee Bock charged with?Bock and Said, 37, were charged with multiple criminal counts including conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery, court records show. Said was also charged with several counts of money laundering."Aimee Bock and Salim Said took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to carry out a massive fraud scheme that stole money meant to feed children," Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick said in a statement after the pair were convicted."The defendants falsely claimed to have served 91 million meals, for which they fraudulently received nearly $250 million in federal funds. That money did not go to feed kids. Instead, it was used to fund their lavish lifestyles," she added.Contributing: Alysa Chen with the Minnesota ReformerNatalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.