Former Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn sentenced to 16 months in federal prison
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A former Minnesota state senator arrested in a child solicitation sting has been sentenced to 16 months in federal prison.
At a Wednesday hearing, U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud also ordered Justin Eichorn to pay $10,000 into a federal fund for victims of child sexual abuse materials. Eichorn, a Republican who represented the Grand Rapids area, will also serve five years of supervised release after leaving prison.
Eichorn, 42, was one of more than a dozen men arrested in March 2025 in a sting operation led by Bloomington police. He resigned from the Minnesota Senate soon after his arrest.
Police arrested Eichorn after he drove to Bloomington to meet someone he had contacted through an online ad. Eichorn believed he was communicating with a 17-year-old girl, but the person was an undercover officer.
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The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office initially charged Eichorn; federal prosecutors later took over the case and charged him with attempted enticement of a minor, an offense carrying a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence.
Under an agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eichorn pleaded guilty in May to a lesser count of attempted possession of child sexual abuse materials. The charge stemmed from his request to the fictitious teenager for nude photos.
Federal prosecutors asked Tostrud to sentence Eichorn to five years in prison, substantially more than the 15-to-21-month sentence contemplated in the plea agreement.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Classen argued that although there was no actual victim, Eichorn intended to sexually abuse a teenager.
“Good fortune is the only reason why a child was not victimized, the only reason that a parents’ worst nightmare didn’t come to fruition,” Classen said.
Eichorn’s attorneys noted that two other men who pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from the same sting received two-year prison sentences. They also pointed to Eichorn’s lack of a previous criminal record.
Eichorn has been jailed since his plea hearing and that time will count toward his sentence.
The judge called Eichorn’s conduct “egregious” and “not the product of a single split-second decision.” Tostrud noted that Eichorn exchanged messages with the undercover officer over several days, specifically requested a nude photo, and was “intent on engaging in sex act with a minor girl.”
During his five years of supervised release, Eichorn will be prohibited from contact with anyone under 18 except his four children and his niece and nephew.
At the hearing, Eichorn apologized to his family, friends and former constituents, and asked Tostrud to sentence him to time already served so he could return home to his children.
“I was selfishly thinking of my own desires and ignoring the harm that I could have done,” Eichorn said. “Abhorrent sinful behavior is what brought me here today.”
