Prominent GOP donor who takes “offense” to being called a groomer gets 21 years for child sex abuse

While right-wingers baselessly accuse drag queens, queer people, and LGBTQ+ allies of “grooming” and “sexualizing” children, an influential Republican donor has been found guilty of actually sex trafficking minors.

Anton Lazzaro, a Republican donor who gave over $270,000 to GOP candidates and met former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison and five years of supervised release for sexually trafficking five teen girls in 2020, the Associated Press reported.

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From May to December of 2020, the then-30-year-old Lazzaro allegedly paid $50,000 to his then-19-year-old associate Gisela Castro Medina to arrange meetings with “broken” 14-, 15-, and 16-year-old girls that they found via social media and the “sugar daddy” website Seeking Arrangements.

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Lazzaro reportedly sent Uber cars to transport girls to his downtown Minneapolis luxury condo. There, he allegedly plied the girls with alcohol and money to perform sex acts, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said. He then allegedly sent the girls home with “cash, vapes, alcohol, Plan B (pregnancy prevention medication), cell phones,” and other valuable items, the DOJ added.

Castro Medina pleaded guilty in March 2021 and said that she and Lazzaro paid a 15-year-old victim to keep her from talking to law enforcement officials. On March 31, 2023, after a 10-day trial overseen by Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz, Lazzaro was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors and five counts of sex trafficking of minors.

“He’s a sex trafficker,” prosecutor Laura Provinzino said. “One who has shown absolutely no remorse. He has accepted no responsibility for his crimes.”

During the trial, Schiltz said that Lazzaro “set up a sex trafficking assembly line” and exploited the girls in a “soulless, almost mechanical nature,” expressing sympathy to only two people: “himself and (former sex offender and accused sex trafficker) Jeffrey Epstein.”

One of his victims called Lazzaro a child predator, adding, “I still see him in my nightmares, in my panic attacks…. Putting Tony behind bars will save so many girls.”

One of his victims’ mothers told Lazzaro, “The damage you caused my daughter, mentally and emotionally, you didn’t just cause that damage to her. You caused it to me and my family and all these victims and all of their families. You stand up here and you don’t even care. You’re justifying your actions. … I hope you rot in hell.”

Lazzaro admitted to having sex with the teens but denied paying them for it. He alleged that the charges against him were “politically motivated” by disapproval of his influence and wealth.

“I take a lot of offense to the government and court’s notion that I perjured myself in this trial…. Grooming behavior is the word you used,” he said. “If that’s the case, then I suppose anyone who gives someone a gift, whether it be a cheap gift or a million dollars, is grooming their companion for sex. OK? If that’s the standard that we’re going to apply, then I don’t know how there’s any standard to apply.”

His defense attorney Daniel Gerdts said they’re “looking forward to the appeal.”

Lazzaro’s 2021 indictment led to the resignation of Minnesota Republican Party Chairperson Jennifer Carnahan. Carnahan and Lazzaro became friends during her unsuccessful 2016 campaign for the state legislature. The two co-hosted the “#TruthMatters” podcast, he backed her bid to become state GOP chairperson, and also attended her 2018 wedding. She denied knowing of his alleged wrongdoing.

Despite spearheading a political action committee called Big Tent Republicans to lure people of color, LGBTQ+ voters, and women into supporting GOP candidates, Lazzaro also donated time and money to anti-LGBTQ+ Republican politicians, including state attorney general candidate Doug Wardlow, state House Leader Kurt Daudt, and U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN). All of them have said they’ll give Lazzaro’s campaign donations to charity organizations.