Actual groomer: Republican donor convicted of sex trafficking teenagers

On Friday, March 31, Anton “Tony” Lazzaro was found guilty by a federal jury of “orchestrating a sex trafficking conspiracy in which he trafficked multiple minor girls.” Assistant United States Attorneys Melinda Williams, Laura Provinzino, and Emily Polachek released a statement on the verdict, saying, “today’s guilty verdict recognizes the bravery of the five young victims who were trafficked by Lazzaro. We are humbled by their courage and inspired by their journeys to regain their power.”

The government only needed a 10-day trial to make the case against the now-32-year-old Lazzaro, using his much younger associate Gisela Castro Medina as their star witness. Lazzaro’s defense—that he wasn’t preying on “broken” girls, but instead was trying to “fix” them—doesn’t seem to have been effective. The former big-time Minnesota Republican strategist was arrested in 2021 following an investigation and raid that turned up a mountain of evidence showing that, with help from then-19-year-old Castro Medina, Lazzaro had plied young girls with gifts and money in exchange for sex.

Lazzaro was connected to many elected Republicans in Minnesota, including then-Minnesota state Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan. Carnahan, who was already facing pressure for a terrible workplace culture, resigned shortly after Lazzaro’s arrest. 

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