MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS | Former Minnesota Sen. Justin Eichorn Sentenced to 16 Months in Federal Prison

SAINT PAUL, MN (September 24, 2026). Former Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn has been sentenced to 16 months in federal prison following his guilty plea to attempting to obtain sexually explicit material from a person he believed was a 17-year-old girl.

U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud imposed the sentence Wednesday in Saint Paul. Eichorn must also pay $10,000 to a federal fund for victims of child sexual-abuse material and serve five years under federal supervision after his release.

Eichorn, 42, represented the Grand Rapids area as a Republican before resigning from the Minnesota Senate following his March 2025 arrest.

He was among more than a dozen men arrested during an undercover operation conducted by Bloomington police. Investigators said Eichorn responded to an online advertisement and communicated over several days with an undercover officer posing as a teenage girl.

Police arrested him after he traveled to Bloomington for what he believed would be a meeting with the teenager.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office initially filed charges before federal prosecutors assumed responsibility for the case. Eichorn was charged federally with attempted enticement of a minor, an offense carrying a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years.

Under a plea agreement reached in May, he admitted to the lesser offense of attempted possession of child sexual-abuse material. That charge was based on his request that the fictitious teenager send him nude photographs.

Federal prosecutors asked the court to impose a five-year sentence, substantially exceeding the 15-to-21-month range contemplated by the plea agreement. They argued that the absence of an actual child did not eliminate the seriousness of Eichorn’s intent.

Defense attorneys pointed to Eichorn’s lack of a prior criminal record and compared his case with two other defendants from the same operation who received two-year terms.

Tostrud described Eichorn’s actions as deliberate conduct that unfolded over several days, rather than an impulsive decision. The judge sentenced him near the lower end of the range contained in the agreement.

Eichorn has remained in custody since entering his guilty plea, and that time will count toward his prison term.

Conditions of supervised release will generally prohibit Eichorn from having contact with minors other than his children, niece and nephew.

During the sentencing hearing, Eichorn apologized to his family, friends and former constituents and acknowledged the potential harm of his actions.

The sentence closes the criminal case that abruptly ended Eichorn’s legislative career, although his federal supervision will continue for five years after imprisonment.
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