Former state Sen. Justin Eichorn argues in a new court filing that the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Minnesota is singling him out for prosecution for attempted sexual solicitation of a minor.
Investigators allege that in March, Eichorn exchanged explicit messages with an undercover officer posing as a 17-year-old girl. The Grand Rapids Republican, 41, pleaded not guilty.
Eichorn was among 14 men arrested in a sting operation in Bloomington. But so far, only he and another defendant have been charged federally. They face 10-year mandatory minimum prison sentences if convicted. By contrast, the equivalent state statute, with which they were charged previously in Hennepin County, carries a five-year maximum term.
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)
Hennepin County prosecutors dismissed their complaint against Eichorn on March 19, the same day they filed the charges, when the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed its own complaint.
Defense attorneys Charles Hawkins and Arthur Waldon argue that Eichorn is being targeted because he was a public official, but they’re not accusing federal prosecutors of partisan bias.
“The only difference between the state and federal prosecutions is the potential punishment,” the defense attorneys write.
They add that federal prosecutors are “attempting to regurgitate the same factual allegations alleged in state court in an indictment to vindictively retaliate against Mr. Eichorn simply because he is a public office holder and exercised his first amendment right to political association and hold office.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has yet to submit a response to Eichorn’s motion to dismiss the indictment, which was filed Friday.
Hawkins and Waldon note in their motion that the only other person to face federal charges related to the sting, Marawan Adel Tawleeleh, has a prior sexual assault conviction. Minnesota court records show that Taweeleh, 32, pleaded guilty in 2021 to assaulting a 15-year-old girl.
Hawkins and Waldon argue that because Eichorn has no criminal history, he would likely face only probation if convicted in state court.
They point to the case of Forest Leandrew McElroy, who was arrested in the same sting operation. McElroy, 46, pleaded guilty in May to a child solicitation charge and cocaine possession.
When he’s sentenced in July, McElroy, of Burnsville, faces three years of probation and a maximum of 90 days in jail as part of a plea agreement.
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