MINNEAPOLIS — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Minnesota), published as received.
MINNEAPOLIS – A St. Paul woman has been sentenced to 36 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release and restitution to the victims for her role in a sex trafficking conspiracy, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger.
According to court documents, from May 2020 through December 2020, Gisela Castro Medina, 21, conspired with co-defendant Anton Joseph Lazzaro, 32, to recruit and solicit six minor victims to engage in commercial sex acts.
The prosecution team, led by Assistant United States Attorneys Melinda Williams, Laura Provinzino and Emily Polachek, said, “Anton Lazzaro and Gisela Castro Medina have been held accountable for their crimes. This case has shown the reality of modern-day sex trafficking: wealth, privilege, and social media used as weapons to target and manipulate vulnerable youth. It’s been a long road and we are grateful to the victims for their strength and resilience throughout.”
According to court documents, in May 2020, Castro Medina met Lazzaro through the Seeking Arrangement website, which is known as a “sugar daddy” website. Lazzaro began communicating with Castro Medina and a minor victim and invited them to his condo at the Hotel Ivy in Minneapolis. Before arriving at the Hotel Ivy, Castro Medina told Lazzaro that the minor victim was only 16 years old. Lazzaro provided Castro Medina and the minor victim with alcohol and paid them $600 for commercial sex acts with him. Lazzaro continued to engage in commercial sexual acts with the minor victim and, on each occasion, Lazzaro paid her in the form of an envelope of cash. Half of each cash payment was for Castro Medina.
According to court documents, Castro Medina and Lazzaro continued to communicate via Snapchat, WhatsApp, and Signal. Lazzaro directed Castro Medina to use WhatsApp and eventually Signal because of the applications’ encryption and deletion features. Castro Medina used social media and her school, friend, and community networks to identify other minor girls for Lazzaro. Castro Medina would show Lazzaro photographs of minor girls and if Lazzaro “approved” Castro Medina would reach out to the minor and provide the minor’s contact information to Lazzaro. Castro Medina told the minors that Lazzaro was an older guy with a lot of money, and that he wanted to be a sugar daddy to younger girls.
Castro Medina admitted that, at the time of recruitment, she knew that the victims were minors and that Lazzaro paid the minor victims money in exchange for sex acts. Castro Medina also admitted that Lazzaro provided the minor victims with alcohol, vapes, food, smartphones, high-end purses, rooms in the Hotel Ivy, and transportation. For her role of identifying, recruiting, and introducing minors, Lazzaro compensated Castro Medina with cash and Venmo payments, as well as rent and utility payments for her apartment, tuition payments to the University of St. Thomas, car payments, travel expenses, and other items.
According to court documents, Castro Medina and Lazzaro discussed which of the minor victims spoke to law enforcement following the execution of federal search warrants in December 2020. Castro Medina admitted that in March 2021, she and Lazzaro aided and abetted one another to obstruct law enforcement by agreeing to pay off a 15-year-old victim to prevent her from talking to law enforcement about engaging in commercial sex with Lazzaro. Castro Medina picked up the minor victim at her place of employment, drove the minor victim around in her Mini Cooper, and provided her with hundreds of dollars in cash, gift cards, vapes, and alcohol from Lazzaro. Castro Medina also told the minor victim not to text Lazzaro anymore.
On December 19, 2022, Castro Medina pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors and one count of obstruction. She was sentenced today by Chief Judge Patrick J. Schiltz who stated that Castro Medina helped Lazzaro at “every step of the way.”
This case is the result of a joint investigation by the FBI and the Minnesota Human Trafficking Investigators Task Force – led by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, the Minneapolis Police Department, the West Hennepin Public Safety Department, and the Wright County Sheriff’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melinda A. Williams, Laura M. Provinzino, and Emily A. Polachek are prosecuting the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Baune is handling the seizure and forfeiture of assets.
