ST.PAUL, Minn. — Former State Senator Justin Eichorn claims he’s being prosecuted unfairly as a john seeking teen sex because of his political prominence. Eichorn says Bloomington police made 13 arrests at a well-known rendezvous zone one evening in April. The acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, Lisa Kirkpatrick, decided to make federal cases of only two of the cases — his and that of a man with a history of sex arrests. Eichorn notes his criminal record is clean. The other 11 men caught in police stings that evening in Bloomington are charged under a relatively lenient state law and face only five years in prison. Because the U.S. attorney plucked his case for elevation into federal jurisdiction, Eichorn could go to prison for 10 years. He called it a “vindictive and selective” prosecution. He wants the federal case dismissed. Eichorn had been a state legislator for 11 years from Grand Rapids. After his arrest, fellow senators drummed him out of office.
Earlier: Eichorn: Not guilty in police sex sting
Earlier: Judge jails Eichorn, ending self-recognizance
Earlier: State senator now faces federal prosecution
Earlier: Minnesota Senate expunges every trace Eichorn
Earlier: Eichorn resigns State Senate seat
Eichorn. Now age 41. Living in a court-assigned halfway house as his case progresses.