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A 21-year-old woman who helped GOP donor Anton Lazzaro sex traffic underage girls at "every step of the way" was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison.
Here's what you need to know about Anton "Tony" Lazzaro and why he was sentenced to 21-years in prison for sex trafficking on Wednesday.
Anton Lazzaro, a former GOP donor in Minnesota, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison in a sex trafficking case.
Anton Lazzaro, a former GOP operative in Minnesota, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison in a sex trafficking case.
Law enforcement officials say they recovered four trafficking victims and arrested 11 people as the result of a two-day operation in St. Paul.
Lazzaro was charged with seven counts involving “commercial sex acts” with five minors ages 15 and 16 in 2020, when he was 30 years old.
A GOP operative accused of sex trafficking underage girls returned to the witness stand today in his own defense.
Jury selection begins Tuesday for a former GOP strategist accused of sex trafficking minors. Anton Lazzaro is accused of recruiting 15- and 16-year-olds for sex in exchange for cash and other items.
Lazzaro is accused of recruiting 15- and 16-year-olds for sex in exchange for cash and other items. His co-conspirator Gisela Medina has pleaded guilty and is expected to testify against him. All five minors are also expected to take the stand.
A formerly well-connected Republican donor, accused of plying petite, vulnerable teenage girls with cash, liquor and gifts, goes on trial Tuesday on federal charges of sex trafficking minors.
Police have described Nathan Chasing Horse as a cult leader who used his position as a self-proclaimed medicine man to gain access to Indigenous girls and women.
A woman charged in a Wisconsin murder plans to argue that she is not guilty because she was a coerced victim of human trafficking.
Pete Orput, Washington County's attorney, said while the sentence seems severe, Williams "admitted to extreme exploitation of human beings for his own profit."
Sex traffickers begin by gaining access on line to the young and vulnerable. Beth Holger, executive director of The Link, says some victims are as young as 11 and 12.
A man and a woman were each sentenced to several years in prison for sex trafficking a minor out of a Twin Cities hotel, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Experts warn that sex trafficking happens daily in towns across Minnesota. The recent charges against GOP strategist Tony Lazzaro show it's not just an issue on the streets, but a crime finding new, young victims on social media.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says 40-year-old Charles William Dexter III "knowingly recruited, enticed, harbored, transported, provided, and advertised a minor victim to engage in a commercial sex act, knowing that the victim had not attained the age of 18 years."
Anton Lazzaro will remain in jail until his trial on federal sex trafficking charges, a federal judge ruled Tuesday, after a police officer testified that the top Republican donor paid underage girls for sex with cash and gifts.
The past four executive directors of the Minnesota Republican Party are asking for Jennifer Carnahan to resign. And, if she doesn't, they say they implore the state executive committee to remove her.
A now-suspended student at the University of St. Thomas who was the chair of her college's GOP chapter appeared in federal court Monday, facing charges that she conspired with a top Republican donor and activist to traffic minors for sex.
More Minnesota Republicans are calling for state party chair Jennifer Carnahan to step down due to her ties to GOP donor and strategist Anton "Tony" Lazzaro, who was indicted Thursday on federal sex trafficking charges.
The newly elected chair of University of St. Thomas' College Republicans was arrested in Florida on sex trafficking charges, according to FBI Minneapolis.
The executive committee of the Minnesota GOP will have an emergency meeting Friday night in wake of the allegations that a Republican donor "deeply involved" in party politics illegally trafficked minors for sex.
Minnesota State Sen. Mary Kunesh said that an earlier trafficking sting in February also resulted in charges against two Enbridge Line 3 employees, in Itasca County.
