Federal authorities want former state Sen. Justin Eichorn to remain in custody ahead of his trial for allegedly seeking sex with a 17-year-old girl, claiming the ex-Minnesota lawmaker lied about having access to a gun and arranged to cover up evidence.

Prosecutors on Sunday filed a motion seeking to bring Eichorn back to custody, alleging he asked someone to pick up a laptop, phone and handgun from his St. Paul apartment before FBI agents could find them. On Monday, Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins ordered Eichorn to remain in U.S. Marshals Service custody until his Wednesday morning hearing.

Eichorn, a Republican senator from northeastern Minnesota, was arrested last week in a Bloomington prostitution sting and resigned last Thursday as his colleagues were prepared to vote to expel him from office. At his initial appearance last week, Elkins allowed him to be released on the condition he be subject to monitoring and stayed in a halfway house.

Eichorn was at the Sherburne County jail waiting for an opening at a halfway house as of Monday.

The third-term Republican senator is 40 years old, was first elected in 2016 and lives in Grand Rapids with his wife and four children. His wife, Brittany, filed for divorce in Itasca County District Court on Monday.

Extended detention

Eichorn previously told the court that he did not have access to any firearms in his St. Paul apartment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote in its motion. But FBI agents found a pistol and ammunition in a red bag on the kitchen counter when they searched his apartment Friday.

In an earlier jailhouse phone call that was routinely recorded by authorities, Eichorn asked a Grand Rapids woman identified as “Individual A” to pick up a red bag containing a laptop — the same one agents later found in the apartment, prosecutors said.

The woman Eichorn allegedly contacted to retrieve the bag, who was described by prosecutors as a close associate, had driven from Grand Rapids and ran into FBI agents outside the apartment around 9:50 a.m. Friday.

She asked to enter the building, and when FBI agents said no, she said she needed to retrieve a laptop for business.

Later during their search, agents found the red bag, which contained the laptop, a handgun and ammunition, $1,000 in cash, a memory card, Senate business cards, and an iPhone that appeared to have been reset to factory settings — meaning all the content had been erased.

Prosecutors noted that some iPhones can be erased remotely if a person has the proper login information, and that investigation into the electronic devices is ongoing.

“These facts give the government, and should give the Court, serious concern that Eichorn may be attempting to obstruct the ongoing investigation into his conduct,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote in its motion urging a new detention hearing.

The arrest

Eichorn was arrested on March 17, after attempting to pay for sex with a person he believed to be a 17-year-old girl he had met online, according to charges. The girl turned out to be an officer with the Bloomington Police Department, which was conducting a sting operation for underage prostitution.

He was initially arrested on a state charge, but the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office has taken over the case. Eichorn appeared in federal court in St. Paul on Thursday on a federal charge of coercion and enticement of a minor. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

The senator was just one of 14 people arrested in the multi-agency effort, according to Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges. Initially, the department didn’t know Eichorn was an elected official, Hodges said.

“We had no idea who he was,” the police chief said at a Monday news conference, telling reporters he learned from another law enforcement official while on a trip to San Diego.

Hodges added it didn’t matter to him who someone was if they wanted to seek sex with minors, but said it was “unfortunate” a state senator faces a charge.

“I do believe most members of our Legislature are good folks and anytime something happens like this it just tends to tarnish that a bit,” he said.

Hodges said he wasn’t aware if anyone else would face federal prosecution, but that local law enforcement was already in talks with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to take the cases to the federal level before Eichorn’s arrest.

Undercover operation

Bloomington police had been running an undercover operation targeting underage commercial sex and posted an online advertisement to which Eichorn responded on March 11, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges. The advertisement featured images of a person who claimed to be 18.

But in messages and voice chats the undercover officer repeatedly said she was not 18, but 17 years old. Eichorn continued asking about pricing for various sex acts and arranged to meet in person, according to the charge.

In messages included in the federal criminal complaint, Eichorn allegedly asked the undercover officer about how much it would cost for a “Qv” or quick visit, or a “half hour,” and whether an “outcall” visit would be possible.

Hodges and federal prosecutors say Eichorn’s use of sex work jargon suggests familiarity and experience buying sex. The senator and undercover officer also discussed the age of consent, according to the complaint.

“I am 17 … like I said don’t want any drama but wanna be upfront cause one guy got hella mad at me,” the officer posing as a teenager said.

“Why was he so mad? I think age of consent is 17 when do ya turn 18?” Eichorn replied, before saying he believed the age of consent was 16, according to the charge.

Officers eventually arranged to meet with Eichorn in the 8300 block of Normandale Boulevard last Monday evening, according to Bloomington police. The senator arrived in a Toyota Tundra pickup truck and was arrested by uniformed officers without incident, according to police. Officers recovered $129 in cash, a condom and two cellphones from the truck. The truck and a GMC pickup seized in another sting remain in the possession of the Bloomington Police Department.

8 seeking to fill Eichorn’s vacant seat

Meanwhile, eight candidates — one Democrat and seven Republicans — have said they will seek to fill Eichorn’s seat in an expected special election. Senate District 6, which has shifted Republican in recent elections, includes Beltrami, Cass, Crow Wing, Hubbard and Itasca counties.

The Democrat is Emily LeClaire, a Brainerd resident who ran unsuccessfully for House District 6B last year.

The Republicans are Jennifer Carnahan, the former state GOP chair who was elected the mayor of Nisswa last fall; Steve Cotariu, a Merrifield veteran and businessman; John Howe, a retired Grand Rapids veterinarian; Josh Gazelka, a Brainerd resident who is the son of former state Sen. Paul Gazelka; Doug Kern, a Brainerd business owner; Angel Zierden, a former Breezy Point mayor; and Keri Heintzeman, the wife of House District 6B Rep. Josh Heintzeman, R-Nisswa.

Nick Ferraro and the Forum News Service contributed to this report.