A former Minnesota state senator arrested in a prostitution sting last year has been sentenced to 16 months in federal prison, plus five years of supervised release. Justin Eichorn, 42, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to attempted possession of child sexual abuse materials, MPR News reports. He was initially charged with soliciting a minor but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge as part of a plea deal in May, reports KAXE.
- Eichorn, a Republican, was arrested in Bloomington in March 2025, hours after he filed a bill to classify "Trump derangement syndrome" as a mental illness. Prosecutors said he had been communicating with an undercover officer he believed was a 17-year-old girl he'd found via an online ad.
Prosecutors said his texts with the officer showed he had "clear familiarity with soliciting commercial sex from minors." The child sexual abuse materials charge was filed because he asked for nude photos. Federal prosecutors sought a 5-year sentence, saying he intended to sexually abuse a minor. "Good fortune is the only reason why a child was not victimized, the only reason that a parent's worst nightmare didn't come to fruition," said Assistant US Attorney David Classen.
Judge Eric Tostrud, who also ordered a $10,000 payment to a federal fund for victims, called Eichorn's conduct "egregious" and "not the product of a single split-second decision." Eichorn, jailed since his May plea, apologized in court and asked to be sentenced to time served. "Abhorrent sinful behavior is what brought me here today," he said. Eichorn resigned from the state Senate just before his colleagues could vote to expel him. His wife filed for divorce days later. When he is on supervised release, he will be barred from contacting anybody under 18 apart from his four children, plus his niece and nephew.
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