MINNEAPOLIS — A judge has ruled that Anton "Tony" Lazzaro will remain in jail until his upcoming trial.
Lazzaro faces 10 federal sex trafficking charges for allegedly recruiting six minor victims to engage in commercial sex acts.
The judge's decision Tuesday comes despite Lazzaro's attorney suggesting an elaborate set of bond conditions, including levels of surveillance that he called a "real-life Truman Show scenario."
Lazzaro will remain in the Sherburne County Jail until his trial. A date has not yet been set.
The plan, laid out in a Tuesday morning court filing, called for installing security cameras and bio-metric locks in Lazzaro's downtown Minneapolis luxury condo. The FBI seized his Ferrari, cell phones, computers and memory cards from the condo earlier this month, also finding gold and silver bars and foreign currency.
New details from Tuesday's hearing:
Testimony during the hearing revealed key details in the investigation ahead of Lazzaro's trial.
According to MPD officer Brandon Brugger, Lazzaro paid 15, 16 and 17-year-old girls for sex with cash, vape pens, food, purse and jewelry. Brugger testified that the investigation began when one of the girls and her parents showed up at a police station to make a report. Another tip went to the FBI, leading to a joint investigation.
Brugger also revealed key details of the investigation against alleged co-conspirator 19-year-old Gisela Castro-Medina, the chairwoman of the University of St. Thomas College Republicans at the time of her arrest.
"He was the sex buyer," Brugger said. "She was his co-conspirator and recruiter."
Brugger testified that Medina would find teens on Instagram and Snapchat to show Lazzaro. If he was interested, she would allegedly contact the girls. Brugger said Lazzaro also sometimes made direct contact over social media.
KARE 11's Lou Raguse, who listened to the hearing, said it's unclear how many of the alleged victims were under 16 — but at least one was 15. Brugger testified that Lazzaro reached out to the 15-year-old and said, "I didn't realize you were 15. I'm sorry. Please don't say anything."
Medina allegedly showed up at the girl's workplace with a bottle of alcohol and cash and asked her not to say anything.
Also in the hearing, Brugger said one of the victims threatened to extort Lazzaro.
For full details of Tuesday's testimony, read this Twitter thread by Raguse.
The (suggested) bail conditions:
Tuesday's court filing sought Lazzaro's release "under conditions that provide 24-hour real-time video surveillance to the court as well as ankle monitoring for location surveillance."
The request also included a detailed floorplan of Lazzaro's home, showing where the "commercial grade security cameras" would be placed.
Lazzaro also proposed that he would wear an ankle monitor at all times.
"Taking the cameras together with the recommended use of bio-metric locks on areas where Mr. Lazzaro cannot go inside the home Mr. Lazzaro will be living inside a real-life Truman Show scenario," wrote Lazzaro's attorney in the court request.
The "Truman Show" is a 1998 film starring Jim Carrey, whose character's life is televised to the world.
The background:
Lazzaro's arrest stirred up turmoil in the Republican Party of Minnesota and ultimately led to the resignation of party chair Jennifer Carnahan. Carnahan and Lazzaro hosted a podcast together and were often seen together socially, prompting many within party to call for her removal.
In a statement, Carnahan denied having any knowledge of Lazzaro's alleged criminal activity, saying, "I trust that justice will be served, and he will spend the rest of his life in prison."