Woman sentenced for role in food fraud

A Willernie woman has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for her role in the $250 million fraud scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic, Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick announced on Friday.

Sharon Denise Ross, 54, was sentenced to 43 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $2,434,360.

She also was ordered to forfeit all property purchased from her fraud proceeds, including her house in Willernie.

She is the 17th defendant to plead guilty to federal charges relating to the fraud scheme since the FBI raided Feeding Our Future’s St. Anthony offices early in 2022. Other charges against Ross were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Ross was one of 60 Minnesotans charged with defrauding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s child nutrition programs during the pandemic, when regulations temporarily were loosened and a variety of businesses and nonprofits were allowed to help feed hungry kids while schools were closed. Federal prosecutors have called the scheme the nation’s largest coronavirus pandemic fraud.

On March 7, 2024, Ross was charged with 12 counts of wire fraud and money laundering for her part in the scheme defrauding the Federal Child Nutrition Program. On Jan. 10, she pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

Court documents show she was the executive director of House of Refuge Twin Cities, a St. Paul-based nonprofit that she enrolled in the federal program.

From September 2021 to February 2022, she claimed to be serving thousands of children each day at her nonprofit sites, saying she served nearly 900,000 meals. As a result of her fraudulent claim, she received $2.4 million in federal funds. She gave out hundreds of thousands of dollars to family members and used the rest of the money to “fund her lifestyle, including to pay for vacations to Florida and Las Vegas, to purchase a suite at a Minnesota Timberwolves game, and to purchase her house in Willernie,” the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Court documents say at the time she was also on probation for another fraud.

Opening arguments are scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of the alleged ringleader of the scheme.

— Kristi Miller

Council member’s day care suspended

The Minnesota Department of Human Services recently suspended the in-home day care license held by a member of the South St. Paul City Council, citing an “imminent risk of harm” to the children in her care.

The temporary license suspension, issued Dec. 9 to Pamela Bakken, follows the recommendation of Dakota County Community Services, which is handling the investigation.

Bakken, according to her campaign materials, has run an in-home day care for 20 years and raised six children in South St. Paul. She was elected to the council in 2020 and again last November. Her business was licensed for up to 14 children, including up to 10 under school age and up to four infants and toddlers.

KARE-TV reported Friday that the state had suspended a license held by a South St. Paul day care operated by an elected official after a 3-year-old child was sent home sick and later tested positive for methamphetamine.

South St. Paul Police Chief Brian Wicke said that because of a possible conflict of interest, his department turned the investigation over to Lakeville police.

About 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 6, his department received “a report of a child who had consumed an unknown substance.”

“During the course of our preliminary investigation, it was learned that a conflict of interest may present during the course of this investigation and as such, we contacted the Lakeville Police Department and asked them to conduct a conflict investigation on our behalf,” Wicke said Friday. “My understanding is that (the) investigation remains active and as such, our original report(s) surrounding the response to this incident are not available at this time.”

Bakken could not be reached for comment.

— Kristi Miller and Frederick Melo