A federal judge this week dismissed former Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn’s argument that he’s being unfairly prosecuted in a child solicitation case because of his status as a former lawmaker.
Eichorn, 41, was arrested in a Bloomington police sting operation on March 17 and resigned from the Senate on March 20 ahead of a vote to expel him. He pleaded not guilty on April 21 to federal charges of attempting to solicit a minor for prostitution.
The Grand Rapids Republican appeared in court in August, where his attorney Charles Hawkins argued that Eichorn shouldn’t be federally prosecuted. Hawkins said that of the 19 arrested in the March sting operation, four are being prosecuted federally. One of the four has a history of criminal sexual assault, whereas Eichorn has a criminal history of “failing to stop at a stop sign,” Hawkins said.
SMALL FILE — MAX. WIDTH FOR PRINT: 2.2 INCHES — March 20, 2025 courtesy photo of Justin David Eichorn. Eichorn, a former Minnesota state senator from Grand Rapids, was arrested on suspicion of soliciting a minor for sex in Bloomington on Monday, March 17, 2025. Eichorn and 13 other suspects were arrested this month in an undercover sex sting operation in which the suspects believed they were communicating with a 17-year-old girl. Eichorn resigned under fire Thursday, March 20, stepping down before the Senate could vote on whether to expel him. Eichorn was initially arrested on a state charge, but the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office has taken up the case. Eichorn appeared in federal court in St. Paul Thursday afternoon on a federal charge of coercion and enticement of a minor. (Courtesy of the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office)
Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins dismissed that argument in her recommendation filed on Wednesday — advancing Eichorn’s federal prosecution and trial.
“The Government’s federal indictment of three other individuals involved in the same sting — who were not public officials — suggests that the Government was not motivated to prosecute only individuals holding public office or exercising their first amendment rights,” Elkins wrote in the Wednesday order.
“The Government was not required to ignore Mr. Eichorn simply because he happened to hold public office at the time he was caught in a sting that also caught several other individuals. And although the Government specifically argues Mr. Eichorn was not charged because he held public office, ‘political prominence’ is a legitimate consideration in charging decisions because it ‘may enhance the deterrent effect of the prosecution and maintain public faith in the precept that public officials are not above the law,’” Elkins continued.
The judge also granted in part a request from Eichorn for the government to disclose the undercover officer’s date of birth, but denied Eichorn’s request for her identity.
Hawkins argued in August that the identity of the undercover officer is necessary evidence because “one of the essential elements the government has to prove is that Mr. Eichorn believed this individual was under the age of 18,” he said.
The government agreed it would not use Eichorn’s post-arrest statements in trial, but the judge denied a motion from Eichorn to dismiss evidence from his truck upon his arrest, which included $129 in cash and a condom, according to the affidavit.
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