ST. PAUL (CN) - A former Minnesota state senator charged with enticing a minor into prostitution will be released from jail after a federal judge found the prosecutor's arguments to keep him locked up left too many unanswered questions. 

Justin David Eichorn, 40, was arrested earlier this month during a prostitution sting led by the Bloomington Police Department as part of a human trafficking task force. Following pressure from his senate colleagues and a vow to vote to remove him from office, the Republican state senator, who represented parts of northeast Minnesota, resigned.

Eichorn appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Shannon Elkins in a St. Paul courtroom Wednesday where prosecutors sought to hold him in detention, arguing he used a "third party" to erase or hide evidence on a laptop and phone in his St. Paul apartment. Though prosectors kept her identity secret, Eichorn's attorney Charles Hawkins outed that third party as Eichorn's wife, Brittany Eichorn, filed for divorce earlier this week. 

Prosecutors say Eichorn and his wife had several phone calls from jail related to retrieving his laptop from the apartment and accessing their shared account with AT&T. Hawkins attributed this talk to the couple's real estate business, which involves managing 128 apartments in Minnesota. 

The government also says Eichorn lied to pretrial service officers when he told them he didn't gave a gun; the FBI found a handgun in his apartment last week while executing a search warrant. Eichorn claims he had a conceal and carry permit due to threats from legislation he introduced earlier this month that would effectively declare criticism of President Donald Trump and his administration a mental illness. 

Hawkins argued that if the government had bothered to check for his permit, it would have known he had a handgun. He blamed Eichorn's answers to the pretrial services office on miscommunication due to how loud his holding cell was.

"Anything that occurred was an honest mistake," the defense attorney told the court. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Bobier was having none of it.

"He was asked if there was a gun in that apartment, and he said no," Bobier told the court. "It was not a misunderstanding, and you are not allowed to lie to the court and think you can get away with it."

While Elkins said she had "no doubt" there was probable cause for the charge leveled against Eichorn, the judge was not swayed by the government's argument to keep him in custody.

The judge cited his close ties to his community, lack of criminal history and the fact that he hasn't left the country in 14 years. 

"It's not exactly clear to me that Mr. Eichorn lied to the court," Elkins said from the bench.

Eichorn will be released to a halfway house and required to use GPS monitoring.

The former state senator is accused of talking to an undercover police officer who identified themself as a 17-year-old girl and negotiating prices to engage in prostitution. Prosecutors presented text messages that show him responding to an internet post offering sexual services, asking for prices. While the post listed the purveyor as 18 years old, Eichorn was told at least three times during their conversations that the person he was talking to was actually 17 years old.

Over several days, Eichorn repeatedly attempted to meet. He used language consistent with someone who had done this before, according to testimony from FBI Special Agent Matthew Vogel on Wednesday. 

In addition, Eichorn used technology to make voice calls over the internet instead of a phone line to help hide his identity, according to Vogel, and he attempted to verify who he was talking to during the sting by asking them to send a photo wearing underwear and holding up two fingers.

Eichorn was arrested March 17 in Bloomington, about 10 miles south of Minneapolis, after traveling to the meetup. At one point, he asked the undercover officer to come outside to his vehicle - but his attorney argued that Eichorn could have changed his mind before his arrest.

Under cross-examination, Vogel admitted that he did not know Eichorn's intention when he asked the undercover officer to come to his vehicle. 

"Exactly," Hawkins said Wednesday. "You don't know."

The federal statute Eichorn is charged with does not require a sexual act or money to be exchanged for there to be a crime. He faces a potential 15-year prison sentence.

Source: Courthouse News Service