Star Tribune
Teen victim accuses Minneapolis Hotel Ivy of helping GOP donor Anton Lazzaro of sex trafficking minors
Staff at the Minneapolis Hotel Ivy played an “integral role” in Minnesota GOP donor Anton Lazzaro’s repeated sex trafficking of teen girls at his luxury downtown condo, according to a new lawsuit filed on behalf of one of Lazzaro’s teen victims.
An anonymous “Jane Doe,” who was 16 at the time of her trafficking, is the lead plaintiff in a federal civil suit filed this week that accuses the hotel of helping Lazzaro traffic her and four other girls “in plain sight” at Lazzaro’s residence.
“There was a pattern of teenage girls arriving late at night to Hotel Ivy, visiting Lazzaro, and leaving a short time later intoxicated,” attorney Molly Burke said. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that something sinister and criminal was occurring.”
Burke is representing the victim alongside St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson – a prominent child sex abuse attorney who also previously filed civil litigation against Lazzaro amid his criminal prosecution.
A federal jury found Lazzaro, now 34, guilty of child sex trafficking last year after a trial that featured emotional testimony from five girls who were between the ages of 15 and 17 when Lazzaro paid them for sex inside his 19th floor condo at the Hotel Ivy in 2020. Chief U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz sentenced Lazzaro to 21 years in federal prison, and Lazzaro is being held at the Sandstone Federal Correctional Institution with a 2039 release date.
The complaint names as defendants Heartland Ivy Partners LLC, the Minneapolis-based owner of Hotel Ivy; Ivy Equity Partners LLC, and Wischermann Partners, Inc. Messages have been left seeking comment.
This booking photo released by Sherburne County Jail shows Anton Lazzaro. Lazzaro, a prominent Minnesota GOP donor who is charged with multiple counts of child sex trafficking is now being sued by an underage girl he allegedly groomed as a victim. The lawsuit filed Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021, in U.S. District Court alleges Anton Lazzaro offered $1,000 in hush money to the girl and her parents to keep them quiet and asked them to sign a non-disclosure agreement. (Sherburne County Jail/Star Tribune via AP) (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Anderson’s firm is accusing all defendants of counts that include “benefiting from a venture that violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act,” and alleges liability and vicarious liability. Under Minnesota state law, the complaint alleges violations of premises liability and negligence.
The lawsuit leans on testimony from Lazzaro’s victims as well as co-defendant Gisela Castro Medina – a young woman who pleaded guilty and testified against Lazzaro, admitting to recruiting young girls for Lazzaro to pay for sex. Castro Medina was sentenced to three years in prison last year.
The family of 6-year-old Eli Hart, who was shot and killed by his mother in 2022, on Wednesday reached a $2.25 million wrongful death settlement with Dakota County.
The lawsuit, which was filed three months after Eli’s death, accused the county’s Social Services department of gross and willful negligence when it returned Eli to the custody of his mother, Julissa Thaler.
“It is definitely a bit of a relief just to have some resolution to this very long case,” said Josephine Josephson, Eli’s stepmother. “It’s a lot of stress to have an ongoing case with a delicate subject.
“I think Dakota County, obviously, they agreed to our settlement without taking any faults. But I think that they truly know that something did go wrong and that they should make corrective actions.”
The settlement stipulates that $1.2 million be paid to Eli’s father, Tory Hart. Three of the boy’s grandparents will receive $25,000 each. The balance of the settlement will cover attorney fees and other costs.
In the years since Eli’s death, his family has created the Eli Hart Foundation. Josephson said Wednesday that the settlement will help the organization establish a scholarship fund and create a legal assistance service for parents who don’t have the means to fight for custody of their children.
“It’s a scary place to be,” Josephson said.
At least 100 University of Minnesota students living in Comstock Hall had no heat in their dorm rooms this week as temperatures dipped below freezing.
Officials say the issue was expected to be resolved by Wednesday night. About two-thirds of the dorm rooms in Minneapolis on the East Bank were fixed by mid-afternoon.
University officials said about 100 out of the hall’s 356 total rooms were affected by the lack of heat, first reported by FOX 9. Last week, maintenance began receiving a higher-than-normal number of requests to fix heating in dorm rooms, though some reports had been made earlier, said Susan Stubblefield, the U’s director of housing and residential life.
“Due to the nature of the heating system in the building, the scope of the problem was not known until reported by residents in each individual room,” Stubblefield said.
A warm fall season and having students leave for the holiday break meant the “full impact of the issue was unknown until the temperatures dipped in recent days,” she said.
Mechanics began working extended hours, including over the Thanksgiving weekend, to make repairs, Stubblefield said.
Air pockets had entered the heating system when maintenance was conducted during the system’s transition from cooling to heating, and that affects the system’s efficiency. The pockets affected some units more than others, Stubblefield said.
To fix things and regain full efficiency, maintenance staff has to clear out the air pockets from the fan coil unit in each individual room. Students were given electric space heaters until maintenance could get to their rooms, Stubblefield said. It’s possible some additional rooms could be affected.
DULUTH – With freshly selected jurors waiting nearby for the start of an expected days-long trial, a Duluth man facing criminal sexual conduct charges took a last-minute plea deal instead of facing the women he abused when they were children.
Clint Franklin Massie, 49, pleaded guilty Wednesday morning at the St. Louis County Courthouse to the four counts from incidents dating back to 2008-09 when two of his victims were young girls. The deal dismissed one of the counts against him. His sentencing is scheduled for March 20, and he could end up with more than nine years in prison. Massie, who was initially charged in February 2023 and has been out on $300,000 bail, was released until his sentencing.
In each case, the victim was known to Massie — whether they were related or through their shared membership at Old Apostolic Lutheran Church. He was friends with their parents and regarded as a fun, child-free uncle, according to reports from the investigation.
Assistant St. Louis County Attorney Michael Ryan told the court that the victims were satisfied with the deal.
“They have been involved in talking this through,” he said to Judge Dale Harris.
After Massie pleaded guilty, would-be witnesses and their supporters filed into the courtroom filling rows. Massie, dressed in a dark suit coat and khaki pants, turned to look. Ryan questioned him on the victims’ accusations — four specific scenarios where he had touched girls: during a sleepover at his house, when alone on a tractor, or beneath a blanket while others were in the room.
Massie said in court there were a lot of big gatherings and shared meals within this the group. It wasn’t unusual for one of the many children to sit on his lap.
At times Massie paused and said he couldn’t remember exact details or motives. At other times he deferred to what he told investigating officers last year. In each instance he ultimately agreed with the scenario presented by the prosecution.
