Eichorn pleads not guilty to federal solicitation charge

On Monday former Minnesota State Senator Justin Eichorn returned to court in St. Paul where he pleaded not guilty to a charge of trying to sexually solicit a minor during a brief arraignment hearing.

Federal prosecutors allege that Eichorn, 40, exchanged explicit texts with a 17-year-old girl who turned out to be an undercover officer.

The Grand Rapids Republican was one of more than a dozen men arrested in March in a Bloomington Police Department sting operation.

The federal count that Eichorn is facing has a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years. By contrast a similar crime under Minnesota law includes a maximum prison sentence of five years. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office initially charged Eichorn, but dismissed the case after the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed its own charges.

Eichorn is living in a Duluth halfway house as his case moves forward. He is prohibited from having unsupervised contact with minors.

Last week defense attorneys asked a judge to modify Eichorn’s release conditions to allow him to visit with his own four children. Prosecutors did not oppose the motion, but the defense withdrew it without explanation ahead of Eichorn’s arraignment hearing.

Eichorn resigned from the Legislature, and a special election to fill his state senate seat is set for April 29.

Republican Keri Heintzeman of Nisswa won a GOP primary and is facing DFLer Denise Slipy of Breezy Point. Slipy was the only DFLer to enter the race.

The election will not shift control of the Minnesota Senate, where DFLers have a two-seat majority.

Of those arrested in the sting, Eichorn and Marwan Adel Taweeleh, 31, are the first to face federal charges.

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