Former state lawmaker Justin Eichorn released after arrest for alleged enticement of a minor
Former Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn was granted pre-trial release on Wednesday after being charged with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor in connection to a prostitution sting.
Eichorn, 40, is accused of arranging to meet up with a 17-year-old girl for sex on March 17.
On Wednesday, the Republican was granted release from jail pending trial, with requirements that he go to a halfway house once a bed is available and be monitored by GPS.
MINNESOTA REPUBLICANS TO INTRODUCE BILL DEFINING ‘TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME’ AS MENTAL ILLNESS
Fox News Digital previously reported Eichorn was allegedly speaking with a girl who he was told was underage for about a week before arranging to meet on March 17 for sex.
When he arrived at the meet-up, he realized the person he was talking to online was actually an undercover agent, affiliate FOX 9 Minneapolis reported.
The former senator was arrested and initially granted release at his first court appearance, but prosecutors over the weekend requested a new detention hearing, claiming he asked his wife to move a laptop from his apartment before investigators arrived, according to FOX 9.
Court documents showed FBI agents, who arrived at the apartment before his wife, told her she could not take the laptop, which Eichorn's attorneys argued was for their shared real estate business.
Also inside the apartment was a factory-reset cellphone and a gun Eichorn allegedly denied having when speaking with a probation officer, FOX 9 reported.
Eichorn's attorneys said the gun was kept in case anyone acted on threats he received about recent legislation he authored defining "Trump derangement syndrome," or TDS, as a mental illness in Minnesota, according to the report.
SANCTUARY CITY LAWYERS PLOT TO HELP ILLEGAL MIGRANTS EVADE ICE IN EXPOSED GROUP EMAIL
Eichorn resigned on March 19 prior to a motion from Republican lawmakers to boot him from the state Senate.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Court records show his wife filed for divorce this week, according to the report.
Eichorn could not be reached by Fox News Digital for comment.