MINNEAPOLIS (AP) 鈥 A formerly well-connected GOP donor was convicted Friday of enticing teenage girls with gifts, cash and money in exchange for sex.
A federal jury found Anton 鈥淭ony鈥 Lazzaro, 32, guilty of seven counts involving 鈥渃ommercial sex acts鈥 with five girls ages 15 and 16 in 2020, when he was 30 years old.
The charges carry mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years with a maximum of life in prison.
The jury will return to court Monday to determine what property the government can seize based on each conviction, the Minneapolis Star Tribune .
Lazzaro, who contends the charges against him were politically motivated, plans to appeal, a spokeswoman for his attorneys said in a statement to The Associated Press.
鈥淭he unusual application of this federal sex trafficking statute to his activities is frighteningly broad, conflating what is nothing more than arguably an act of prostitution with federal sex trafficking,鈥 Stacy Bettison said. 鈥淗e believes he has strong grounds for appeal, and he will vigorously seek reversal of his conviction. Mr. Lazzaro trusts he will be vindicated."
His led to the downfall of as chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota.
His co-defendant, 21-year-old Gisela Castro Medina, who formerly , pleaded guilty to two counts last year. She testified against Lazzaro.
Prosecutors argued during the trial that Lazzaro enlisted Medina, who he initially paid for sex, to recruit other teenagers 鈥 preferably minors 鈥 who were white, small, vulnerable or 鈥渂roken.鈥
鈥淗e wanted sex, and not just any sex,鈥 Assistant U.S. Attorney Melinda Williams said during closing arguments Friday. 鈥淗e wanted sex with minor girls under the age of 18. And he had a plan to get it.鈥
Lazarro's attorney, Daniel Gerdts, argued that government's 鈥渟alacious鈥 prosecution was based on 鈥渃ompletely unfounded鈥 allegations.
鈥淭he prosecution clearly disapproves of Mr. Lazzaro鈥檚 playboy lifestyle,鈥 Gerdts said. 鈥淎nd frankly, as the father of three daughters, so do I. The opprobrium is well deserved, but that is not why we鈥檙e here.鈥
Carnahan. the the widow of U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, resigned a week after the charges against Lazzaro were unsealed. She denied knowing about Lazzaro's crimes but his arrest prompted outrage among party activists.
Pictures on Lazzaro鈥檚 social media accounts showed him with prominent Republicans, including former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. He gave more than $270,000 to Republican campaigns and political committees over the years.
