Anton Lazzaro will continued to be detained until trial on sex trafficking-related charges.
Over a four hour hearing Tuesday, the prominent Minnesota GOP donor and party operative who appeared in court in an orange prison uniform was described by the mother of a victim as a “perverted, narsissistic sex offender.”
Though the defense argued he was not a flight risk and maintained Lazzarro’s innocence, federal Judge Hildy Bowbeer said the government “demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that there are not conditions that would assure the safety of the community.”
Another victim’s parent said the experience changed her daughter into “a shell of what she used to be.”
Prosecutors allege Lazzaro paid underage girls with cash and gifts in exchange for sex. He has pleaded not guilty.