ST. PAUL, Minn. — A former Minnesota state senator charged with trying to solicit a minor for prostitution and accused of attempting to obstruct the FBI’s investigation from jail can be released to a halfway house pending trial, a judge ruled Wednesday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Shannon Elkins ruled that Justin Eichorn, a Republican, does not pose a risk to the community and that there were reasonable explanations for actions that federal prosecutors argued warranted keeping him in jail. But she ruled there was sufficient evidence to take the case to trial. He did not enter a plea Wednesday.
The 40-year-old from Grand Rapids was arrested in Bloomington on March 17 after exchanging text messages with an undercover officer who posed as a 17-year-old girl and arranging a meet-up for sex for money, the charging documents say. He was charged with attempted enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution, a felony that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, and resigned from the Senate March 20.
On Sunday, federal prosecutors moved to prevent his scheduled release to the halfway house on Tuesday. They leveled detailed allegations that he tried to arrange by phone from jail for a “close, known associate” — identified by prosecutors as Individual A — to retrieve a computer and other items from the St. Paul apartment where he lived alone during legislative sessions. They argued that she could have concealed and destroyed evidence in the apartment.
Defense attorney Charles Hawkins revealed in court Wednesday that Individual A is Eichorn’s wife. He suggested through his questioning of an FBI agent leading the investigation that she needed the computer because it contains records related to their apartment rental business, not to destroy evidence.
The Eichorns have four children. His wife filed for divorce Monday.
When she arrived at his apartment last Friday morning, FBI agents were already there. They declined her 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.
During their search of the apartment, agents found a bag on the counter containing $1,000 in cash; a 9 mm handgun and ammunition; a laptop; a computer memory card; an iPhone; and several of Eichorn’s Senate business cards. They said the iPhone appeared to have been reset to its factory settings, which can erase all content on the device.
FBI Special Agent Matthew Vogel conceded Wednesday that the phone appeared to have been reset Feb. 28 — well before Eichorn began communicating with the undercover officers — but said they were still studying it.
Vogel also acknowledged that the defense had provided a password for the computer. He said agents had been able to access some information but that they were still working to unlock some encrypted data.
Federal prosecutors Daniel Bobier argued that Eichorn lied when he told a pretrial services officer he had no firearms in his apartment.
But Hawkins argued that Eichorn misunderstood the officer because of the noise in the holding area. He argued that Eichorn had the gun because he was getting threats for cosponsoring a bill that would have designated “Trump derangement syndrome” as a mental illness.
Hawkins declined further comment after the hearing, except to say he was planning to personally drive Eichorn to the halfway house in Duluth.
Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday called a special election for Tuesday, April 29, to fill the empty seat, in time to seat a new senator for the final weeks of the legislative session. Primaries will be Tuesday, April 15. The district, which stretches from Brainerd to Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota, is heavily Republican. Regardless of the outcome, Senate Democrats will continue to hold a narrow majority.
