WILLMAR -- Ismail Abokor Mohamud, 27, of Minneapolis, was found guilty Friday of fifth-degree drug possession, for having khat in his vehicle, and theft, for his role in stealing more than $500 in baby formula from a Willmar grocer in January.
The verdict was returned around 1:15 p.m. Friday by a jury in Kandiyohi County District Court. Mohamud will be sentenced June 1.
Mohamud and Liban Hassan Osman, 28, of Blaine, were both charged after the January incident. Osman pleaded guilty and was sentenced on a gross misdemeanor charge of theft. He was sentenced to 365 days in jail, which was stayed, a $500 fine and a year of probation.
The charges were filed after Willmar police were called around 6:45 p.m. Jan. 14 to Cub Foods, where an employee witnessed two Somali men apparently shoplifting baskets of baby formula and then leaving in a vehicle.
An officer located the vehicle along Lakeland Drive and stopped it for speeding.
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The officer observed a large quantity of baby formula cans in the backseat. The driver was identified as Osman, the passenger as Mohamud. A search of the vehicle also revealed 19 grams of khat, a narcotic substance.
The value of the 35 cans of formula and the two shopping baskets was estimated at $501.65.
