Accomplice pleads guilty to child sex trafficking conspiracy allegedly helmed by GOP donor Lazzaro

New details of how Minnesota GOP donor Anton Lazzaro's alleged child sex trafficking enterprise took root were revealed in a Minneapolis federal courtroom Monday as his co-conspirator pleaded guilty and is expected to testify during his March trial.

Gisela Castro Medina, 20, described Monday how she first met the 32-year-old Lazzaro through a "sugar daddy" website called Seeking Arrangement in May 2020. Medina testified that she and a minor girl received cash and alcohol for sex with Lazzaro at his Hotel Ivy condominium in Minneapolis before Medina eventually transitioned into recruiting other young girls for Lazzaro to pay for sex.

"Mr. Lazzaro wanted to have sex with younger girls to include young adults and minors, correct?" Medina's attorney, Elizabeth Duel, asked her client as they paged through the 20-page plea agreement in court.

"Yes," the soft-spoken Medina replied as she admitted to her own role in the scheme.

Medina pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor and one count of obstruction associated with attempting to buy the silence of one 15-year-old victim as the FBI investigated the case.

Medina is free on supervised release as she awaits sentencing. Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz noted Monday that Medina is expected to testify against Lazzaro at a trial set to start on March 20.

According to the plea agreement, Lazzaro had a preference in skin color and petite body type with no tattoos. Medina would show him pictures of girls' social media accounts, which he would approve or decline. She was instructed to tell the girls that Lazzaro was an older guy who wanted to be a sugar daddy to younger girls — while adding that he was "not creepy."

A grand jury indicted Lazzaro and Medina in August 2021. His multiple efforts to dismiss the case having failed, Lazzaro remains in custody at the Sherburne County jail in Elk River as he awaits trial on 10 counts related to trafficking minors and obstruction. His attorney Daniel Gerdts was present at the plea hearing but declined comment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Provinzino said Monday that the government would dismiss five other counts against Medina as part of her plea agreement.

The charges to which Medina pleaded guilty carry a maximum possible sentence of life imprisonment on the conspiracy count and up to 25 years for obstructing the investigation. She will be ordered to pay restitution, but Medina's attorneys and prosecutors must resolve how much should be paid to the victims. Provinzino said this would be worked out 30 days before sentencing.

Medina will relinquish multiple iPhones, a laptop, a 2015 Mini Cooper S vehicle and $2,000 seized by the FBI during the investigation. The plea agreement disclosed that $20,000 had been deposited in Medina's bank account, which is being controlled by her attorneys for eventual restitution.

Medina testified Monday that victims received cash, alcohol, vapes, food and luxury items in exchange for sex, and that the girls were shuttled to meet Lazzaro via Ubers. Medina said she used the funds from Lazzaro to pay her rent and tuition. She testified he promised to pay her future graduate school expenses and buy her a house in exchange for her silence and cooperation.

At least six victims, referred to as minors A through F, are referenced in the indictment. Medina will be ordered not to have contact with any of them while incarcerated or on supervised release unless otherwise allowed by the U.S. Probation Office.

Jeffrey Anderson, an attorney representing one victim in a federal civil suit against Lazzaro, told reporters Monday that a double-sided sense of "relief and sorrow" accompanied Medina's plea.

"There is a sense of some relief but at the same time there is this sense of confliction because every survivor is still suffering and suffered for years and will continue to for the exploitation of each of them," Anderson said. "So the suffering continues. But there is hope. and the hope is that there is accountability."