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Testimony: Minnesota GOP donor paid underage girls for sex

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The mug shots of Gisela Castro Medina (left) and Anton "Tony" Lazzaro

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A prominent Minnesota GOP donor allegedly paid underage girls for sex, a police officer testified in federal court Tuesday.

Minneapolis Police Officer Brandon Brugger spoke during a detention haring for Anton Lazzaro.

A federal grand jury indicted the 30-year-old Lazzaro on multiple sex trafficking counts earlier this month.

US House Rep. Jim Hagedorn, a Republican that represents Southeast Minnesota as part of the 1st District, received $31,000 in financial contributions from Lazzaro, the largest amount given to any other GOP elected official or political organization, according to the Post Bulletin.

Since 2014, Lazzaro has contributed more than $78,000 at the state level, much of which went to the Minnesota Republican party, but also to top candidates for office.

Lazarro’s arrest also led to the resignation of Hageodorn’s wife, Jennifer Carnahan, as the Minnesota state Republican Party chair.

Magistrate Judge Hildy Bowbeer ordered Lazarro held without bail pending trial, citing the nature of the charges and Lazarro’s ample resources, which she said make him a flight risk.

Brugger, who works for a state task force on sex trafficking, testified that Lazzaro groomed his victims with expensive purses, vape pens, alcohol and other gifts. Some of the girls were as young as 15.

He added that 19-year-old St. Thomas University student Gisela Castro Medina recruited girls for Lazzaro on SnapChat. Medina, who also served as chairwoman of the school’s Republican chapter, has been charged with helping recruit victims.

Brugger said he began investigating Lazzaro after one of the victims and her family told police that she was being trafficked. He learned then that the FBI was already investigating Lazzaro based on a separate tip.

Lazzaro’s attorney, Zachary Lee Newland, requested unsuccessfully that Lazzaro be confined to his 2,200-square-foot condo in downtown Minneapolis rather than in jail.

He said the home would be fitted with thumbprint locks and cameras providing a continuous feed to federal probation officials. Newland said Lazzaro would be “living inside a real-life ‘Truman Show’ scenario,” referring to a 1999 movie about a man whose life is filmed secretly for a reality show.

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