Two of the 79 defendants charged in a sprawling $300 million childcare and nutrition fraud scheme in Minnesota have pleaded guilty, including one who collected more than $5 million in government funds.

Fahima Mahamud, 50, of Minneapolis, and Jillaine Ann Mertens, 42, of Hamel, Minnesota, entered guilty pleas Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Mahamud pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States, and Mertens pleaded guilty to a wire fraud charge.

Both were released on bond pending sentencing.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Mahamud faces an advisory prison range of about three to four years, and Mertens faces an advisory range of roughly 1¾ to 2¼ years, although federal judges are not bound by those recommendations.

Mahamud was the CEO of Future Leaders Early Learning Center in Minneapolis, which became the subject of reporting by independent journalist Nick Shirley in December concerning alleged fraudulent childcare facilities in the Twin Cities.

According to court documents, between October 2022 and November 2025, Mahamud submitted more than $4.6 million in reimbursement claims through the Child Care Assistance Program, a federal program that helps low-income families pay for childcare, while falsely certifying that required co-payments had been collected.

Future Leaders also received more than $850,000 between January and July 2021 through Feeding Our Future, a Minnesota nonprofit at the center of a $250 million pandemic-era food fraud scheme that resulted in charges against 79 defendants, many of them of Somali descent.

Aimee Bock, founder of Feeding Our Future, was sentenced in May to more than 41 years in prison for masterminding the pandemic-era fraud scheme.

Mertens was accused of submitting fraudulent claims to the Great Start Compensation Support Payment Program, a state program that provided childcare educators with supplemental pay based on the number of full-time equivalent staff who regularly care for children.

Mertens owned three childcare centers, receiving about $425,000. She submitted monthly applications for reimbursement for in-classroom services that were never provided and for individuals who were not employed by the centers.

Newsmax sought comment from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota, as well as attorneys for Mahamud and Mertens.