Game is headed to OT! All eyes glued to the TVs at Sally’s Saloon in Dinkytown
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Kirsten Swanson
@KirstenKSTP
Investigative Reporter · Adopted Minnesotan w/ stops in NE, CO, SD & NM · grad · cat mom & horse girl · got a tip? kswanson@kstp.com
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A sea of Golden Gopher hockey fans in Dinkytown tonight! This is right after Minnesota scored their second goal of the championship game
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The man prosecutors have dubbed “Minnesota’s Jeffrey Epstein” will be sentenced by a federal judge later this summer after being convicted of child sex trafficking
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Minnesota journalists: is hosting a brown-bag workshop later this month on the data practices act. Learn tips and tricks from seasoned pros! In-person & virtual options available! Sign up here:
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This morning, we learned Anton "Tony" Lazzaro will be sentenced August 9th in federal court in Minneapolis. A jury convicted Lazzaro on Friday of sex trafficking of minors after a two week trial
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The Sunday crew is back together! Join us now for news headlines and the forecast for the week
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BREAKING: We’ve learned the jury has reached a verdict in the Lazzaro case. I’m in the courtroom now, as the parties are gathering.
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We're on verdict watch now in the Tony Lazzaro trial. Jurors got the case just before 12:30pm, after listening to closing arguments this morning.
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Gerdts is arguing that what occurred here was not sex trafficking. Lazzaro had testified that while he did have sex with the five minor girls, the money & other gifts he gave them were not in exchange for sex.
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Lazzaro's defense attorney Daniel Gerdts is now up to deliver his closing argument.
He began: "The prosecution clearly disapproves of his playboy lifestyle. And frankly, as the father of three daughters, so do I."
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Her presentation often used exhibits from the trial to remind the jurors of the testimony:
"Over the course of the last two weeks, witness by witness, text by text, you have seen overwhelming evidence of the defendants’ crimes. Overwhelming evidence of his guilt.”
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Prosecutor Melinda Williams just wrapped up. Her almost hour-long closing focused around a theme she came back to repeatedly:
"Sex for cash. This for that."
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The government is giving its closing argument right now in the federal sex trafficking trial of Anton "Tony" Lazzaro.
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I'm back in federal court in Minneapolis today, where Anton Lazzaro is expected back on the stand. He began testifying in his own defense yesterday afternoon.
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When asked about their relationship, he said "Gisela and I had a very close friendship. Almost brother-sisterly. I wouldn’t say the father-figure thing."
(Gisela testified that she saw Lazzaro as a "father figure" during the alleged sex trafficking scheme)
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Lazzaro met his co-defendant, Gisela Castro Medina, on a sugar daddy website. He said he was "intrigued" by the 18-year-old, in part because after they started talking online, she picked up the phone & called him
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Lazzaro has been on the stand for about an hour. Defense attorney Daniel Gerdts is doing the questioning. They spent a lot of time on his background/childhood. We're now getting to the events of the summer of 2020
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"Yes absolutely."
Tony Lazzaro told Judge Schiltz he does plan to testify in his own defense. His attorneys have a handful of witnesses they plan to put in front of the jury before Lazzaro takes the stand.
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UPDATE: The government has rested its case in the sex trafficking trial of Anton "Tony" Lazzaro
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Prosecutors are expected to rest their case in the Tony Lazzaro sex trafficking trial today. On Monday, the jurors heard from three more women who said Lazzaro paid them for sex.
Details from the testimony: bit.ly/3ntJcpB
(Sketch courtesy Cedric Hohnstadt, 3/23/23)
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Jurors in the Lazzaro trial heard from only one witness Thursday - Gisela Castro Medina.
The indicted co-conspirator told the jurors she recruited young girls for Lazzaro to have sex with
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This morning in the Lazzaro trial, Gisela Castro Medina has taken the stand. She is the indicted co-conspirator who pleaded guilty in December to sex trafficking/obstruction. Legal experts say this testimony is crucial for the government's case
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Beito’s final thought to the jury in his opening statement:
“This isn’t sex trafficking, ladies and gentlemen. Those young ladies were there because they wanted to be. And at the end of the evidence, you will see Tony is not guilty of trafficking anyone.”
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Beito told the jurors Lazzaro is a generous guy (an argument they’ve made before in pre-trial filings) and that he became a “mark,” someone that people went to when they needed money.
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What Beito said next hinted at Lazzaro’s defense of the charges:
“He’s a little bit socially awkward. It’s the pandemic. We’re all stuck at home, so he ended up paying people - a lot of people - just to hang out with him. Some of them he ends up having sex with.”
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Only briefly did he touch on Lazzaro’s interest/connection to politics, saying he volunteered for Mitt Romney’s campaign.
Beito made no mention of Lazzaro’s involvement in Minnesota politics/donations
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Beito described his childhood in southern California, pointed out Lazzaro’s mother and brother who were in the courtroom and talked about Lazzaro’s “head for business.” Said he did well in his early 20s and began investing his money
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Then it was the defense’s turn.
Attorney Thomas Beito gave spent a lot of time telling the jury about Lazzaro.
“He’s not the cartoon character villain that the government portrayed in their opening.”
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Prosecutors told the jurors there is A LOT of evidence in this case. Uber/Lyft transactions, text messages, messages on social media sites and other encrypted apps like Signal. In fact, near the prosecutor’s table are six large storage bins, packed with files
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The government also plans to put other eyewitnesses on the stand:
A cab driver & a front desk clerk from the Hotel Ivy were two that were mentioned in the opening statement.
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It’s also clear the case will rely heavily on the testimony of Gisela Castro Medina. Jurors will see her messages to girls that she recruited for Lazzaro, according to prosecutors. They’ll also hear about the $$$ she got for recruiting those girls
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Provinzino also gave details of what happened in the apartment with the girls.
One of the alleged victims will testify that while Lazzaro had sex with her friend, she watched a Disney movie in the other room.
She said he then bought them Happy Meals
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For the first time we saw photos of Lazzaro’s condo on the 19th floor of the Hotel Ivy.
The pics show a gilded lion knocker, ornate gold ceiling, floor to ceiling windows and a wall of photos of Lazzaro w/ celebrities & prominent politicians
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Attorney Laura Provinzino gave the opening for the government. She laid out a lot of detail about the five alleged victims interactions with Lazzaro
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Prosecutors just wrapped up their opening statement. They got right to the point:
“This case is about wealthy man who paid tens of thousands of dollars to have sex with minor girls. That’s a crime.”
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Jury selection wrapped up yesterday afternoon, with 16 jurors chosen. Twelve will ultimately deliberate
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I’m in federal court this morning for opening statements in the Anton “Tony” Lazzaro trial.
Jury has been sworn in and Judge Patrick Schiltz is now giving them instructions.
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UPDATE from federal court:
A jury has been selected for the Lazzaro sex trafficking trial. 16 jurors will hear the case. Four will be pulled as alternates at the end.
The panel is nine women, seven men from all over central and southern Minnesota.
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I'll be covering the sex trafficking trial of Anton "Tony" Lazzaro over the next two weeks for .
Unfamiliar with the case? Here's a good primer:
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