MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's note: The video above first aired Aug. 24, 2021.
A trial date has been set for former GOP donor and strategist Anton 'Tony' Lazzaro on sex crimes charges.
Court documents filed Friday afternoon say Lazzaro, 30, will stand trial Oct. 18, 2021 at 9 a.m. in U.S. District Court in St. Paul. Lazzaro's case will be heard by District Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright.
Last month, a federal judge ruled Lazzaro would remain in the Sherburne County Jail until his court date, despite his attorney proposing a set of bond conditions, including levels of surveillance that he referred to as a "real-life Truman show."
Lazzaro is charged with 10 federal sex trafficking crimes for allegedly recruiting six minors to engage in commercial sex acts. A criminal complaint shows the FBI seized a plethora of goods from his condo in August, including a Ferrari, cell phones, computers and memory cards, gold and silver bars and foreign currency.
In the wake of Lazzaro's arrest and subsequent party turmoil, Republican Party Chair of Minnesota Jennifer Carnahan resigned her position, but denied having any knowledge of Lazzaro's alleged activity. The two had hosted a podcast together and were often seen with one another at social events.
Among other positions Lazzaro held in the orbit of Minnesota's Republican Party, he was formerly a campaign strategist for GOP candidate Lacy Johnson, who ran an unsuccessful bid in 2020 to unseat Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Nineteen-year-old Gisela Castro Medina is also charged in the case. She faces seven federal charges, including one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors, five counts of sex trafficking of minors, and one count of obstruction.
In a recent court hearing, a witness testified that Castro Medina would allegedly recruit teens she thought Lazzaro would take interest in, and would help facilitate encounters with him.
Castro Medina was arrested in Florida shortly after Lazzaro's arrest, and was transferred to a facility in Minnesota to await trial.