So let’s get this straight. A jury of twelve American citizens sits through a full trial, hears the evidence, deliberates carefully, unanimously agrees the guy is guilty of stealing $7.2 million from Minnesota’s Medicaid program — and a judge just waves a legal wand and says, “Nah, I don’t think so.”
Welcome to the upside-down world of 2025, where apparently, all it takes to walk free after a multi-million-dollar fraud conviction is a sympathetic judge and a lot of “circumstantial” hand-waving.
The man at the center of this legal circus is Abdifatah Yusuf, who was convicted — yes, convicted — in August of swindling taxpayers through a healthcare company that, according to prosecutors, didn’t even have an office. Just a mailbox. That’s right, the entire operation of “Promise Health Services” allegedly ran out of a mailbox, while Yusuf allegedly billed the state for services that recipients said they never received — and sometimes were even paid kickbacks not to report.
And what did all that “non-fraudulent” money buy? According to the state, Yusuf treated himself to $22,000 in furniture, $80,000 in designer threads, and $42,000 worth of wheels. That’s not healthcare spending — that’s “Real Housewives of Medicaid Fraud” territory.
But none of that mattered, apparently, because Judge Sarah West — appointed, not so shockingly, by Democrat Governor Mark Dayton — decided that, while yes, there was widespread fraud, and yes, Yusuf might have been involved, the state didn’t tie it up with a pretty enough bow. So out goes the conviction. Poof. Gone.
Somali immigrant Abdifatah Yusuf was quickly convicted for a $7.2 million Medicaid fraud scheme, but now he has been freed
This is Sarah West, the Minnesota judge who said the jury got it wrong and acquitted him based purely on her own judgment pic.twitter.com/FAKi0dN8U4 pic.twitter.com/2BytG4iX7c
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) November 25, 2025
Never mind the jurors, who actually sat through the entire trial and were, to put it mildly, furious. One of them, Ben Walfoort, told KARE 11, “It was not a difficult decision whatsoever.” The jury deliberated for about four hours before finding Yusuf guilty on six counts of aiding and abetting theft by swindle. Not a close call. Not a split decision. But sure — they must’ve all just misread the evidence.
Another juror added, “We didn’t take our job lightly.” They took their time, they looked at everything. And yet somehow, Judge West decided that her interpretation of the case — sitting alone in her chambers, likely with a copy of Minnesota statute and a very different political lens — overruled the combined judgment of a dozen citizens.
And the justification? Too much circumstantial evidence. Even though West admits that some of the fraud was directly evidenced, she says the connection to Yusuf required too much inference. Translation: “You’re guilty, but not guilty-guilty.”
Let’s not pretend this is a one-off. This is what happens when a justice system becomes more about technicality than truth — and when politics quietly slithers into the courtroom. The press will pretend Judge West was just being a careful steward of the law. But if you think a Trump-appointed judge had done the same thing in a case involving a GOP donor, the media wouldn’t be quoting from her 55-page ruling. They’d be calling for impeachment.
Prosecutors have appealed the acquittal, thankfully. They’re pushing to reexamine the ruling and the evidence, which honestly seems like the bare minimum when a $7 million theft conviction disappears overnight. But you have to wonder: what message does this send? If you allegedly defraud the government but have just enough legal distance between you and the paperwork, are you free to go? Is that the new standard?
And where’s the outrage from the folks who constantly preach about “fairness” and “accountability”? Crickets. Not a word from the same people who scream “corruption” every time a conservative breathes near a tax document.
Look, if a jury says someone’s guilty based on clear evidence, and a judge comes along and tosses that out like yesterday’s garbage — especially when taxpayers were the ones robbed — people should be angry. Because justice isn’t supposed to be about who has the slickest lawyer or the softest judge. It’s supposed to be about truth.
So here’s the real question: how many more Yusuf-style acquittals are waiting in the wings, just one “circumstantial” ruling away from turning a conviction into a cocktail party? Stay tuned. The appeal’s coming. But don’t hold your breath.
