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A judge has ordered the Minnesota "mastermind" in the nation's largest pandemic fraud case to serve 41.5 years in prison — the harshest sentence to date in connection with the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme.

Why it matters: Prosecutors say former Feeding Our Future executive director Aimee Bock was at the center of a scheme to steal more than $240 million from a federally funded child meals program during the pandemic.

• The case sparked intense scrutiny of the Walz administration's oversight of state-run programs and fueled broader concerns about fraud under his watch.