A judge blocks the release of an ex-Minnesota senator accused of
soliciting a minor
[March 25, 2025]
By STEVE KARNOWSKI
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A judge on Monday blocked the release of a former
Minnesota state senator charged with soliciting a minor, after
prosecutors leveled fresh allegations that he tried to obstruct the
FBI's investigation from jail.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Shannon Elkins ruled that Justin Eichorn should
remain jailed instead of being released to a halfway house on Tuesday as
previously scheduled. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Wednesday,
when the issue will be addressed again.
Eichorn's attorneys didn't respond to voicemails and emails from The
Associated Press on Monday. Eichorn has not publicly commented since his
arrest during a sting operation in Bloomington last Monday.
The 40-year-old former Republican lawmaker from Grand Rapids resigned
after he was charged with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor
to engage in prostitution, a felony that carries a mandatory minimum
sentence of 10 years.
In their motion to keep Eichorn in jail, prosecutors said they had
learned that the former senator had arranged with a Grand Rapids woman —
identified only as Individual A but described as a close associate — to
retrieve a computer and other items from the St. Paul apartment where he
lived alone during legislative sessions. Prosecutors said both Eichorn
and the woman had been warned that his calls from jail were not private
and would be recorded.
According to Eichorn’s profile, which was removed from the Senate
website last week, he is married with four children. But Itasca County
court records show that his wife filed for divorce Monday.
“Eichorn’s conduct evidences a willingness to conceal material facts
from the Court and to do so at the expense of public safety,”
prosecutors wrote. They said “even more concerning ... is the
possibility that Eichorn lied” in order to get his apartment cleared out
before law enforcement could get there.
By the time the woman got to the apartment Friday morning, FBI agents
had already secured it with a warrant to search for evidence in the case
against Eichorn, prosecutors said in the motion. Agents declined the
woman's request to retrieve a computer that she said was used for her
business. A few moments after she left, an agent called her and asked
her to return for an interview. She refused.
[to top of second column]
|
Staff place the agenda on the desk of GOP Minnesota state Sen.
Justin Eichorn before his name was removed before the morning's
session and Eichorn's resignation at the Minnesota State Capitol in
St. Paul, Minn., on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Elizabeth Flores/Star
Tribune via AP)
During their search, agents found a bag on the counter containing
$1,000 in cash; a handgun and ammunition; a laptop computer; an SD
memory card; an iPhone and several of Eichorn's Senate business
cards, prosecutors said. They said the iPhone appeared to have been
reset to its factory settings, which can erase all content on the
device. While they said the phone might have been reset before
Eichorn’s arrest, the timing hasn’t been confirmed yet.
One of the conditions for Eichorn's release to a halfway house was
that he not possess firearms. Prosecutors allege he deliberately
lied when he told a pretrial services officer after his first court
appearance last Thursday that he had no firearms in his apartment.
Prosecutors also argued that Eichorn should remain jailed because
the text messages he had exchanged with an undercover officer posing
as a 17-year-old girl before his arrest demonstrated his “clear
familiarity with soliciting commercial sex from minors.”
When officers arrested him, they seized two cellphones, an unopened
condom and $129 in cash.
“Eichorn’s messages and conduct reveal an experienced operator,”
prosecutors wrote. “His pretrial release brings with it a real risk
that he would attempt to victimize other minors in the community.”
Eichorn listed his profession as entrepreneur on his former profile
and was first elected in 2016. He received national attention
earlier this month as one of the sponsors of a not-very-serious bill
that would have designated “Trump derangement syndrome” as a mental
illness.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
