MINNEAPOLIS – A federal judge reversed her decision to release former state Senator Justin Eichorn from jail. Originaly the judge said she trusted Eichorn to move to halfway house to await further proceedings. But then the prosecutors came back with new evidence and osecutors called Eichorn a “an experienced operator” in lining up minors for sex and “a real risk that he would attempt to victimize other minors in the community.” U.S. Magistrate Judge Shannon Elkins agreed. The judge ordered Eichorn to the Sherburne County jail in Elk River, which houses federal prisoners pending trial. No halfway house for the former senator, she said. The new evidence included several fresh assertions:
> Personal devices. From jail after being arrested, Eichorn phoned an aide in his hometown, 180 miles away, to rush to his St. Paul apartment, where he lived alone when the Legislature was in session. She was instructed to retrieve a laptop computer and an iPhone before police arrived with a search warrant. The devices were thought to contain incriminating communications, the prosecutors told the judge.
> Guns. The prosecutors said Eichorn lied about possessing a gun. In the apartment, police found a gun with ammunition, the prosecutors said. In he bag too was an iPhhne, a computer memory card, and several of Eichorn’s Senate business card,. The iPhone appeared to have been reset to its factory settings to erase all its content.
> Timeline. Eichorn had criminal intent. He left the Capitol after the day’s Senate session recessed and drove directly to disreputable sex rendezvous area a mile from the Mall of America in the Bloomington suburb. The arrest was at 5:46 p.m.
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