Republican Justin Eichorn, within hours of abandoning his seat in the Minnesota Senate, arrived in federal court Thursday afternoon on allegations he solicited prostitution from a Bloomington police detective posing as a 17-year-old girl.
The 40-year-old husband and father of four from Grand Rapids was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.
Eichorn entered the courtroom from a side door under guard and wearing a black polo shirt and blue jeans. He was represented by federal public defender Aaron Morrison but told the court he intends to retain private counsel.
Judge Shannon Elkins ordered that Eichorn be released to a halfway house, but that he would remain jailed until a bed was available. Conditions included a prohibition on contact with unaccompanied minors, and a restriction on leaving the state. Eichorn did not speak other than to confirm that he understood the charges against him.
His next preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Eichorn resigned from the Senate late Thursday morning. He submitted his letter of resignation, effective immediately, less than an hour before the Senate was set to take an unprecedented vote to expel him from the chamber.
Senate Republicans were ready to bring forward the motion, and DFLers said they would join them in voting for Eichorn’s expulsion.
Eichorn was arrested Monday as part of an undercover operation in Bloomington that also snared six other men.
