A judge blocks the release of an ex-Minnesota senator accused of soliciting a minor

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A judge on Monday blocked the release of a former Minnesota state senator charged with soliciting a minor, after prosecutors leveled fresh allegations that he tried to obstruct the FBI's investigation from jail.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Shannon Elkins ruled that Justin Eichorn should remain jailed instead of being released to a halfway house on Tuesday as previously scheduled. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, when the issue will be addressed again.

Eichorn's attorneys didn't respond to voicemails and emails from The Associated Press on Monday. Eichorn has not publicly commented since his arrest during a sting operation in Bloomington last Monday.

The 40-year-old former Republican lawmaker from Grand Rapids resigned after he was charged with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor to engage in prostitution, a felony that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years.

In their motion to keep Eichorn in jail, prosecutors said they had learned that the former senator had arranged with a Grand Rapids woman — identified only as Individual A but described as a close associate — to retrieve a computer and other items from the St. Paul apartment where he lived alone during legislative sessions. Prosecutors said both Eichorn and the woman had been warned that his calls from jail were not private and would be recorded.

According to Eichorn’s profile, which was removed from the Senate website last week, he is married with four children. But Itasca County court records show that his wife filed for divorce Monday.

“Eichorn’s conduct evidences a willingness to conceal material facts from the Court and to do so at the expense of public safety,” prosecutors wrote. They said “even more concerning ... is the possibility that Eichorn lied” in order to get his apartment cleared out before law enforcement could get there.

By the time the woman got to the apartment Friday morning, FBI agents had already secured it with a warrant to search for evidence in the case against Eichorn, prosecutors said in the motion. Agents declined the woman's request to retrieve a computer that she said was used for her business. A few moments after she left, an agent called her and asked her to return for an interview. She refused.

During their search, agents found a bag on the counter containing $1,000 in cash; a handgun and ammunition; a laptop computer; an SD memory card; an iPhone and several of Eichorn's Senate business cards, prosecutors said. They said the iPhone appeared to have been reset to its factory settings, which can erase all content on the device. While they said the phone might have been reset before Eichorn’s arrest, the timing hasn’t been confirmed yet.

One of the conditions for Eichorn's release to a halfway house was that he not possess firearms. Prosecutors allege he deliberately lied when he told a pretrial services officer after his first court appearance last Thursday that he had no firearms in his apartment.

Prosecutors also argued that Eichorn should remain jailed because the text messages he had exchanged with an undercover officer posing as a 17-year-old girl before his arrest demonstrated his “clear familiarity with soliciting commercial sex from minors.”

When officers arrested him, they seized two cellphones, an unopened condom and $129 in cash.

“Eichorn’s messages and conduct reveal an experienced operator,” prosecutors wrote. “His pretrial release brings with it a real risk that he would attempt to victimize other minors in the community.”

Eichorn listed his profession as entrepreneur on his former profile and was first elected in 2016. He received national attention earlier this month as one of the sponsors of a not-very-serious bill that would have designated “Trump derangement syndrome” as a mental illness.