MINNEAPOLIS>> A judge on Thursday handed down an extraordinary prison sentence — nearly 42 years — to the former leader of a Minnesota nonprofit who was convicted in a staggering $250 million fraud case that helped ignite an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration.

Aimee Bock ran Feeding Our Future, which had claimed it helped provide millions of meals to needy children during the pandemic. The U.S. Justice Department, however, said she was atop the “single largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country.”

“I understand I failed. I failed the public, my family, everyone,” Bock, 45, said in federal court.

After the hearing, authorities announced charges against 15 more people accused of fraud in receiving federal payments for a variety of social services administered through Minnesota’s state government. The FBI said one man jumped from a fourth-floor balcony to avoid arrest.

“We will claw back every dollar you have stolen from the American people,” Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald said, noting that the government sent more prosecutors and agents to Minnesota this year.

COVID-19 brought changes to a federal program that typically fed children through schools. Restaurants could participate, and food distribution was extended to sites outside schools.

Investigators said Bock’s nonprofit was at the center of a crime network that included a web of partner organizations, phony distribution sites, kickbacks and fake lists of children. Feeding Our Future recruited people to create sites throughout Minnesota, and claims for reimbursement quickly followed, according to the government.

“Aimee was a god,” a witness testified at trial.

Bock had long proclaimed her innocence but was convicted of conspiracy, fraud and bribery. Investigators said she and co-conspirators enriched themselves with international travel, real estate, luxury vehicles and other lavish spending.

“This was a vortex of fraud and you were at the epicenter,” U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel told Bock.

A co-defendant was sentenced last August to 28 years in prison. Abdiaziz Farah claimed to be serving meals to thousands of children per day, investigators said, but the sites turned out to be parking lots or empty commercial space.

Bock’s lawyer, Kenneth Udoibok, had argued for no more than three years in prison, saying she had provided key information to investigators. He said Bock, a former teacher, had been unfairly portrayed as the mastermind and insisted that two co-defendants were responsible for running the scams.

State auditors found that the Minnesota Department of Education received numerous complaints about Feeding Our Future, but often told the group to police itself.

In January, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said he would not run for reelection after being pounded by President Donald Trump about theft in programs that rely on federal cash.

At least 65 people have been convicted in a series of overlapping food fraud cases. Investigations began during the Biden administration.

“This case has changed our state forever,” Joe Thompson, formerly the lead prosecutor in the case, said outside the courtroom. “Aimee Bock did everything she could to earn this long sentence.”