Trump denies commutation request for convicted sex trafficker, former Minnesota GOP donor Anton Lazzaro

A former GOP donor in Minnesota who was convicted for sex trafficking underage girls sought a commutation of his sentence from President Trump, but was denied earlier this month.

Anton Lazzaro was sentenced in 2023 to 21 years in prison in the sex trafficking case. Records from the Office of the Pardon Attorney show he requested a commutation in 2025. Mr. Trump denied the request on July 10.

Federal prosecutors said Lazzaro paid teenagers for sex with money and gifts. He admitted to having sex with them, but denied recruiting them.

Gisela Castro Medina, Lazzaro's codefendant who formerly led the College Republicans chapter at the University of St. Thomas, pleaded guilty in 2022 and testified against him. The two met on a sugar daddy website, and she brought a 16-year-old girl to Lazzaro's condo at the Hotel Ivy, where he paid them $600 for sex.

Over the course of the next seven months, Castro Medina — who knew the girls were minors — showed pictures of them to Lazzaro. He then compensated Castro Medina with payments for rent, tuition, utilities and travel expenses after he had sex with them, court documents say.

Lazzaro founded the GOP PAC Big Tent Republicans. He had donated $190,000 to Minnesota Republicans over the years, with the Associated Press reporting that his social media accounts showed him with prominent Republican figures like Mr. Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

Lazzaro's indictment led to a political firestorm within Minnesota's Republican Party. 

He is serving his sentence at a federal prison in Sandstone, Minnesota.