Here's the TRUTH about the the Corrupt Federal Indictment of Anton (Tony) Lazzaro...
Tony Lazzaro is NOT a Sex Trafficker. Nor should he have ever been indicted for Federal Sex Trafficking. But due to an overzealous politically-motivated prosecutor, he has been locked up for over 18 Months... And the Feds are trying to send him to Federal Prison for 10-Years-to-Life.
We are friends of Tony who have developed this website to share the TRUE FACTS of this incredibly unusual and corrupt indictment. Please take a few moments to read the below facts for yourself...
In 2020, Anton (Tony) Lazzaro was an entrepreneur, well-respected Republican donor, campaign adviser and RNC delegate in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
During the 2020 election cycle, Lazzaro was the Chairman of Lacy Johnson's bid for Minnesota's Fifth Congressional District. This is a seat that was and is still currently occupied by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). (See: https://ballotpedia.org/Minnesota%27s_5th_Congressional_District)
In the mid-2020, Lazzaro received a call from a local Somali-American Republican activist. The man asked Lazzaro why the campaign has not seized on the allegations of Rep. Omar marrying her biological brother to commit immigration fraud. Lazzaro responded that it was due to the allegations being likely false and conspiratorial in nature. But after discussing the matter further, the man assured Lazzaro that the allegations were 100% genuine and verified by a respected investigative reporter in New York.
That reporter, David Steinberg, had located a series of private social media posts where Omar and her family had openly referred to a man named Ahmed Nur Said Elmi as Omar's brother, not husband. (See: https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-glenn-beck-program/ilhan-omar-verifiable-evidence)
Incredibly, instead of the mainstream media reporting the evidence, they immediately pounced on Steinberg's report: https://www.reuters.com/article/world/false-headline-claim-ilhan-omar-faces-40-years-in-prison-and-deportation-idUSKBN22V27T/
Like the many Hillary Clinton-era reports by Conservatives, the media had once again effectively killed a credible allegation against a prominent Democrat.
But Lazzaro had an idea: Collect physical DNA evidence from Rep. Omar and her now ex-husband to confirm or debunk the matter once and for all.
The plan was put into place using former Government intelligence operatives turned private investigators. They operated in three continents and four countries. Including but not limited to Washington D.C., Minnesota, England, Somalia, and Kenya. The operation was simple: lawfully collect discarded items that were likely to contain human DNA that can be matched for a siblingship relationship in a private laboratory.
Lazzaro would then publish all of the information eventually online at IlhanOmarDNA.com
Ilhan Omar and her husband Timothy Mynett smoking on the balcony of her Washington, DC residence
As the evidence began to be analyzed, the truth became evident. A sitting member of Congress had committed a number of truly brazen federal felonies.
DNA Lab Report Showing 99% Siblingship Match
Lazzaro immediately began aggressively pressing the local FBI field office as to why this matter had not been properly investigated when it was originally suspected a year prior. (See: https://www.startribune.com/new-documents-revisit-questions-about-rep-ilhan-omar-s-marriage-history/511681362)
At that point, the Obama-appointed U.S
Attorney in Minnesota, Andrew Luger, had gone out of his way to produce an unheard of open letter for Omar to dispose of the theory:
When speaking with the local feds, the investigation went nowhere. Lazzaro placed dozens of calls, mailed letters, all only to be eventually ghosted by these officials.
Lazzaro was furious. He began publicly exposing the federal officials on social media and his PAC websites. Some of the phone calls and posts can be seen and listened to at IlhanOmarDNA.com.
Once again, a prominent Democrat had escaped an investigation, while prominent Republicans like Roger Stone, Dinesh D'Souza, Rudy Giuliani, Matt Gaetz, or George Santos are prosecuted for unheard of "crimes" never before seen in American courts. Unlike this obvious immigration, marriage and tax fraud case.
The DNA evidence did eventually get traction among friendly media outlets such as the New York Post, Daily Mail, and FOX News:
https://nypost.com/2021/08/15/fbi-dodged-ilhanomar-bro-wed-probe-devine/
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jAfnXIm9xWA (Tucker Carlson segment with 1.8M views about Lazzaro's investigation into Omar).
A comprehensive legal brief discussing the entire Omar saga can also be found at: https://ilhanomardna.com/media/legal_brief.pdf
After Joseph Biden won the 2020 election and Johnson was defeated by Omar, things went from bad to much worse. On December 15, 2020, Lazzaro was raided by dozens of heavily armed FBI agents at his Downtown Minneapolis condominium.
Lazzaro had no idea why dozens of armed agents were raiding him, and only suspected it had to do with the Omar investigation. Unbeknownst to him, the raid was actually signed off on as part of an investigation into alleged human trafficking, which was in fact intended to silence him once and for all.
During the Summer of 2020, and peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lazzaro, then 29-years-old, met an 18-year-old young woman on a dating site. When bars and clubs were closed in Minnesota, Lazzaro and Gisela Medina became close friends along with several of her extended friend group. This included a handful of young women between the ages of 16-20 whom he had lawful, consensual sexual relationships with.
(The age of consent in Minnesota, like dozens of states, is 16 years.) One of the young women, Kira Costal (now 22), ultimately began a serious relationship with Lazzaro that they remain in today.
Lazzaro showered all of the young women (and her male friends nonetheless) with gifts and free alcohol. Nobody objected until the parent of one young woman began asking questions to why her daughter had a new iPhone. This prompted her to contact her friend, a state judge, who connected her with the FBI.
Eight months after the raid, on August 12, 2021, Lazzaro was indicted and arrested under the federal sex trafficking statute. Within minutes of his arrest, before any local media could even report the story, it was leaked to the left-wing site, The Daily Beast: https://thedailybeast.com/gop-strategist-anton-lazzaro-arrested-for-underage-sex-trafficking
(The author of the piece confirmed he had spoken to AUSA Laura Provinzino in Minneapolis).
Only one other individual has EVER been investigated as a "sex trafficker" under the theory a consensual sexual relationship achieved by lavish gift-giving could equate to "trafficking". That individual, incredibly, is an even more prominent Republican: former Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL).
(See: https://reason.com/2021/04/02/matt-gaetz-story-shifts-from-child-sex-trafficking-to-consorting-with-sugar-babies/ and https://reason.com/2021/03/31/is-matt-gaetz-a-child-sex-trafficker-heres-what-the-law-actually-says/)
Gaetz was of course forced to withdraw from his AG nomination over novel-theorized allegations of "sex trafficking".
After the FBI had learned and investigated of Lazzaro's activities, the case was handled by AUSA Laura M. Provinzino, an active Democrat donor and close friend of Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
After being indicted, Lazzaro attempted to have his indictment dismissed for Selective Prosecution. The legal standard requires "objective evidence that he was arrested when otherwise similarly situated individuals not engaged in the same sort of protected speech had not been." Just v. City of St. Louis, F. 4th 761 (8th Cir. 2021).
Lazzaro argued the incredible fact that not a single other person had been arrested for ANY type of sex trafficking in Minnesota for nearly two years prior to his arrest. He also provided evidence of AUSA Provinzino's donations to Democratic candidates, equating to more than all the other 25+ Minnesota Assistant U.S. Attorney donations COMBINED.
He further pointed to the involvement in his investigation of FBI Special Agent Joy Hess. This agent was in charge of the public corruption task force, whom he had spoken with regarding the Omar matter. Additionally, Lazzaro pointed to multiple subpoenas of his Political Action Committe's bank accounts, website, and social media accounts. All somehow connected to a "sex trafficking" investigation. (See United States v. Lazzaro, Case No. 21-CR-173, D. Minn. (Dkt No. 236).
Ultimately, the district court however denied his motion, calling the incredible connections and lack of any other indictments, merely "coincidental". (See Order denying Motion to Dismiss, Dkt No. 264).
18 months after being indicted, while being detained in federal custody, Lazzaro proceeded to trial.
At trial, Lazzaro intended to point out that (a) All of Lazzaro's contact was lawful consensual sex, not prostitution. (b) Sex trafficking requires a trafficker who has directed victims to perform commercial sex acts. An element entirely missing from this case yet present in all other Sec. 1591 cases ever brought by the Department of Justice.
"The legitimate sweep of 18 U.S.C. § 1591 is that it allows conviction of individuals who have forced minors into prostitution and maintained them through varied means." U.S. v. Snead, Case No. 21-4333 (4th Cir. 2022).
Many of the Government's own witnesses testified that it was indeed not prostitution:
Counsel: Okay. Now, you were questioned about your interactions with Tony, and you said, "It sounds bad, but it wasn't. It wasn't bad. It wasn't like prostitution or anything." You said that, right?
E.R.: I can't for sure say I remember saying that, but that sounds like something that I agree with right now.
Counsel: So you agree with it now?
E.R.: Yes. (Trial Tr. Vol. I at 227)
The Government latched onto one comment made by E.L. that Lazzaro allegedly made a single suggestion of money for sex. But she later said she was never paid, and her sister whom was with her the entire time, denied these conversations ever took place:
[W]as there an explicit discussion of sex for money? A. No.
(T.L. Tr. Vol. III at 632)
Co-defendant Castro Medina described her conduct as "[a]lmost like matchmaking." (Trial Tr. Vol. II at 311) where she gave Lazzaro two Snapchat introductions that eventually led to three intimate encounters. Castro Medina however expressly testified that she never discussed sex with anyone or even arranged any platonic dates.
"Q. Now, Gisela, she never pressured you to have sex with Tony; is that right?
A. That's correct, yeah.
Q. She didn't even mention it or suggest it, did she?
A. No, she did not." (Trial Tr. Vol I at 238).
(Ultimately, Medina cooperated with the Government after intense threats and telling her "she's not the target" while raiding her college dorm room simultaneously to Lazzaro's condominium in 2020).
S.G. testified she was disappointed when Lazzaro only gave her a re-gifted iPhone she had asked him for: "And then as we were walking out, Stella was like, I wanted cash too, so I was like ask, just ask for more. So she did. And he gave her more."
(E.P. Tr. Vol. IV at 938).
At trial, even the name "Trump" was incredibly mentioned nine separate occurrences. All in attempts by the prosecutor to remind the media of Lazzaro being a Republican.
The Government's theory of the case, and the District Court's abuse of discretion, guaranteed a conviction. Instead of focusing on actual trafficking elements, the prosecutors simply pointed out the fact that Lazzaro's gifts were the ultimate method of his seduction, and therefore equated to commercial sex acts. Judge Patrick Schiltz also denied almost all of Lazzaro's pre-trial motions and forbid him from presenting key evidence to the jury.
Lazzaro testified as well at his trial. On March 31, 2023, Lazzaro was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to 252 months (21 years) in federal prison. The prosecution team, entirely Democrats, did a media blitz boasting of their prosecution of Lazzaro. Seen here at a local ABC interview.
To date, the Courts have entirely ignored the clear fact that both Congress and the DOJ themselves describe sex trafficking totally outside the ambit of Lazzaro's conduct.
The DOJ Manual explicitly instructs the USAO to prosecute those who "entice, obtain, patronize, or solicit an individual for commercial sex, knowing or in reckless disregard that the individual is a victim of sex trafficking"
(https://www.justice.gov/jm/jm-8-3000-enforcement-civil-rights-criminal-statutes)
Congress wrote that "[t]he purposes of this division are to combat trafficking in persons, a contemporary manifestation of slavery whose victims are predominantly women and children."
See 22 U.S.C.S. § 7102(11)(a).
The Principal Sponsor of the trafficking legislation, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), even stated: "the JVTA focuses on reducing the demand-side of the issue by charging the purchasers of these sex acts when they purchase (or attempt to purchase) sex acts from minors under third party control or from victims induced by force, fraud, threats, or coercion." See Dkt No. 438 at 31.
The U.S. Supreme Court "looks beyond statutory text when application of the plain language will produce a result demonstrably at odds with the intentions of its drafters." United States v. Ron Pair Enters, 489 U.S. 235, 242, 109 S. Ct. 1026, 103 L. Ed. 2D 290 (1989) (cleaned up). To suggest this conduct is sex trafficking, virtually anyone could be a sex trafficker. Ponder a young TikTok influencer "enticing" 16-17-year-olds with the potential for social media collaboration. If these lead to sexual encounters, it is no less sex trafficking than Lazzaro sending photos of himself with celebrities and luxury items. The same can surely be said for invitations to a fraternity party including complimentary beer and Uber rides. If any sexual encounters occur because of the earlier enticement, this would surely be a enticement for commercial sex acts.
"The United States' maximalist approach has simplicity on its side, yes; an everybody-is-guilty standard is no challenge to administer. But the Constitution prohibits the Judiciary from resolving reasonable doubts about a criminal statute's meaning by rounding up to the most punitive interpretation its text and context can tolerate." Dubin v. United States, 599 U.S. 110 (2023).
Nothing in the statutory background whatsoever suggests the sex trafficking statute could ever be applied to this type of conduct.
Shortly after Lazzaro's conviction, President Biden sent a gift of his own to then-AUSA Laura Provinzino: a lifetime appointment of a judgeship on the federal district court in Minnesota.
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Right, and now-Judge Laura Provinzino, Left.
This case truly represents another disturbing example of the blatant political prosecution that took place throughout the Biden administration towards vocal Republican activists.
Lazzaro maintains his innocence and is currently appealing his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court and bringing additional challenges at the District Court level.
When one thinks of sex trafficking, one typically immediately thinks of the coercion of women for the purpose of the trafficker illicitly profiting from the sale of their body. The Government themselves labels sex trafficking as:
Child Sex Trafficking
Child sex trafficking refers to the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a minor for the purpose of a commercial sex act. Offenders of this crime who are commonly referred to as traffickers, or pimps, target vulnerable children and gain control over them using a variety of manipulative methods. Victims frequently fall prey to traffickers who lure them in with an offer of food, clothes, attention, friendship, love, and a seemingly safe place to sleep. After cultivating a relationship with the child and engendering a false sense of trust, the trafficker will begin engaging the child in prostitution, and use physical, emotional, and psychological abuse to keep the child trapped in a life of prostitution. It is common for traffickers to isolate victims by moving them far away from friends and family, altering their physical appearances, or continuously moving them to new locations. Victims are heavily conditioned to remain loyal to the trafficker and to distrust law enforcement. No child is immune to becoming a victim of child sex trafficking, regardless of the child's race, age, socioeconomic status, or location, and every child involved in this form of commercial sexual exploitation is a victim.
SEE SOURCEIn virtually every single other Sex Trafficking Case brought by the Federal Government (nationwide), they involve several (typically most if not all) of these components:
Even in the extremely rare “non-typical” Federal sex trafficking cases (such as R. Kelly, Epstein, Maxwell) – they involved ALL of the above elements minus the organized business structures (component #2).
Lazzaro's case has NONE of these, and cannot be compared to ANY other sex trafficking case in U.S. history.
For the first time ever, the Feds are alleging that Tony was a “sugar daddy sex trafficker”. Even though, all relationships were 100% consensual, and the Government's entire theory of prosecution surrounds around giving lavish gifts to young women above the age of consent equates to Sex Trafficking.
Tony is not accused of ANY of the elements found in 100% of other sex trafficking cases, ever.
If Tony were to somehow be convicted, Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz would be mandated to sentence him to at least 10-years in Federal Prison. (He has already spent well over a year in a maximum security federal holding facility where he remains prior to trial). These lengthy sentencing requirements were put in place by Congress to combat what Congress identified as the “modern form of slavery”. Never, ever a case like this.
Congress made it very clear why this statue was passed over two decades ago in 2000:
Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery. It is a crime involving the exploitation of people through compelled labor or a commercial sex act for illicit profit. Victims can be anyone from around the world or right next door: women and men, adults and children, citizens and noncitizens, and every race, religion, and nationality. An estimated 25 million people are being trafficked worldwide, 30 percent of whom are children.
SEE SOURCEThe last person arrested for Sex Trafficking before Lazzaro was an individual named Darnell Stennis in January 2020. Mr. Stennis was accused of beating a women in a hotel room when she refused to continue prostituting. He was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in Federal Prison (by Judge Schiltz).
Last month, Darnell Stennis was murdered at a U.S. Penitentiary:
Besides these sparse cases, the “Minnesota Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force” has been a TOTAL FAILURE at actually identifying and stopping Real Sex Trafficking in Minnesota. Actual sex trafficking occurs everyday in Minnesota. Yet these cases go completely ignored by the Feds, instead resulting in state prosecutions resulting in FAR lesser prison sentences than federal prosecutions.
Meanwhile, individuals such as this mother in Ely, MN literally sold her 11-year-old daughter for sexual abuse and was charged with “Promoting Prostitution” as a state charge. Therefore she received just a small fraction of the sentence one indicted Federally for Sex Trafficking.
It is well known that Tony Lazzaro was a political activist for center-right policies and exposing corrupt politicians on BOTH sides of the political isle.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) committing multiple Federal felonies by engaging in a legal marriage with her biological brother for the purpose of committing immigration, student loan, and tax frauds. Mr. Lazzaro spent over $200,000 while both managing the campaign of Rep. Omar's opponent, as well as while a private citizen to contract with former CIA agents to legally obtain DNA samples from Rep. Omar and her ex-husband (brother). The result of this investigation proved a 99.999998% Full Siblingship match. But before Mr. Lazzaro could go public with this shocking bombshell, the US DOJ arrested him for “child sex trafficking” sending shockwaves through the local community.
The Feds ignored all of this information, and instead put a target on Tony’s back.
This has no doubt been the reason for the target on his back. Lead Prosecutor Laura M. Provinzino has donated more money to Democrat political causes the last decade than all other Minnesota Federal Prosecutors combined.
This fact is undisputed in court filings and simply brushed off as a “mere coincidence” by the Government.
Prosecutor Provinzino even leaked the story of Tony's arrest to the Daily Beast left-wing political blog before any local media had even reported on the story. Just another crazy coincidence!
Regardless of having zero criminal history whatsoever, the FBI has spared no expense in aggressively investigating him like he was Chapo Guzman. This includes sending over 30 agents to “raid him” and then once again to arrest him months later. This incredible waste of federal resources is disgraceful.
Actual video clips of military-style pre-dawn raid of Tony's residence:
In addition to raiding Tony's condo, his co-defendant Gisela Medina was also raided by several agents in her college dorm room. During that raid, the Trafficking Task Force Commander, Bobbi Jo Pazdernik, clearly felt it was very important to inquire repeatedly about Tony's personal assets inside his condo that had ZERO to do with a supposed “sex trafficking investigation”.
Read the incredible transcript of this recorded interview for yourself:
During the simultaneous raid at Tony's, FBI agents then proceeded to seize ALL of his gold/silver coins, and all other valuables in his personal safe worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. A year later, a Magistrate Judge ordered the Government must return ALL of these belongs as there were no grounds to seize them whatsoever in the first place.
Local shake-down Lawyer Jeff Anderson tried suing Tony and even running online ads to locate “victims” for a class-action lawsuit. After seeking out one initial client (who already admits to attempting to extort Tony) Anderson attempted to locate others he could represent as “Jane Doe” named plaintiffs.
There's only one problem... He couldn't find any.
Anderson's failed campaign seemingly ended last year and it's unclear what he even feels Tony did that would constitute a federal lawsuit for any type of “sexual abuse”.
The Prosecutors have made it no mystery that they were desperate for Ms. Medina to testify against Tony at trial.
To achieve this, they offered Medina immediate release after her initial court appearance, dropping 5 out of 7 charges against her, and filing a “5k.1” which would allow the Judge to go well below the 10-year minimum as part of the deal. (Meaning likely almost zero prison time as the remaining “Conspiracy” count she is charged with has NO mandatory minimum sentence).
The reality however is Ms. Medina was an 18-year-old high school senior when she was supposedly “sex trafficking” by partying with her friends at Tony's condominium.
While trying to prepare for his trial in jail, federal agents have spent their time listening to HUNDREDS of hours of Tony's private phone calls with his girlfriend, family, friends, etc. In doing so, they also (allegedly accidentally) clicked on over 16 of his calls with his attorney. When subpoenaed to testify on the matter, the FBI agents claimed these were merely “mis-clicks” and not intentional.
The mere fact these FBI agents feel it necessary to monitor every single phone call Tony makes from jail shows their unbelievable desperation in this case.
According to the DOJ, hooking up friends with other friends is now Sex Trafficking.
Tony's girlfriend was investigated by the FBI, and even had her bank account closed as a result of her possible “involvement in sex trafficking” before the Feds realized she would not be interested in assisting their absurd case.
Tony and his girlfriend have been in a serious relationship for over a year and met under the same friend group as the alleged “victims” the Federal government sought out to charge him as a “sex trafficker”.
Her testimony at trial will only further display the absurdity of this indictment.
The facts show that Tony has donated HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dollars to charities, GoFundMe efforts / those in need, and political causes. He does so because that's who he is. He has never sought any favors from any politicians or anyone. Tony's generosity has touched the lives of literally hundreds of people (and pets!).
Anyone who has met Tony knows what a bighearted individual he is.
His generosity towards anyone he has had a private intimate relationship with simply does not constitute anything remotely close to “sex trafficking” or any criminal behavior whatsoever.
Thank you for taking the time to read this page!
Disclaimer: This website is operated by friends of Anton (Tony) Lazzaro. All content on this website is protected by the First Amendment and based 100% on genuine facts. Any opinion on this page does not necessarily represent the views of Mr. Lazzaro or his legal team. For any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Thank you for reading!
