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Minneapolis hotel facing 2nd lawsuit by victim of sex trafficking scheme involving Anton Lazzaro

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Minneapolis hotel facing 2nd lawsuit by victim of sex trafficking scheme involving Anton Lazzaro


A second victim is suing the former owner and management company of Hotel Ivy, arguing it played a role in a sex trafficking scheme that victimized multiple teenage girls and ended in the conviction of Anton “Tony” Lazzaro.

The man federal prosecutors dubbed “Minnesota’s Jeffrey Epstein” was convicted of sex trafficking of minors in 2023. He’s currently serving a 21-year prison sentence.

Lazzaro resided in a condo at The Hotel Ivy in downtown Minneapolis. During his two-week trial, the minor victims testified that he brought them to his condo in the summer of 2020 and gave them cash, alcohol, vapes and other items in exchange for sex.

Heartland Ivy Partners, LLC and Wischermann Partners are named as the owner and management company of Hotel Ivy at the time of the alleged conduct. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court on Wedesnday, accused the companies of not responding to “obvious signs” of sex trafficking of teenage girls by Lazzaro.

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The lawsuit goes on to say the defendants did not exercise “reasonable care” with regard to hiring and training employees. Minnesota law requires hotel and motel employees to be trained to recognize signs of sex trafficking.

The attorney who represents Heartland Ivy Partners LLC, Patrick Kelly, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, “The person responsible for the harm to the Plaintiffs is Anton Lazzaro, who has been convicted of these crimes and is presently serving his sentence in federal prison. We will be defending these lawsuits and will have no further comment.”

This is the second lawsuit against Heartland Ivy Partners LLC related to the Lazzaro sex trafficking scheme. In December, another one of Lazzaro’s victims filed a similar lawsuit.

RELATED: Minneapolis hotel sued over alleged role in sex trafficking scheme involving Anton Lazzaro

In the newest lawsuit, attorneys for the victim say that hotel staff had numerous opportunities to intervene, adding that the victims would show up in groups in the middle of the night, which is an “obvious” sign of sex trafficking.

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The front office manager testified during Lazzaro’s criminal trial that the girls who came to the hotel looked about 16 or 17 years old, according to the lawsuit.

Jeffrey Montpetit, the attorney representing the unnamed victim, said the case is based on a federal statute that says anyone who benefits financially from sex trafficking can be found liable.

“It really opens up the window of opportunity to hold wrongdoers responsible,” Montpetit said Wednesday.



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Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis police consent decree reforms to be implemented despite dismissal

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Minneapolis police consent decree reforms to be implemented despite dismissal



Minneapolis police consent decree reforms to be implemented despite dismissal – CBS Minnesota

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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey issued an executive order on Tuesday instructing the city to fully implement all reforms outlined in a consent decree weeks after its dismissal.

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Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis police: We can't assist with immigration enforcement

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Minneapolis police: We can't assist with immigration enforcement


From the Minnesota Star Tribune: “Days after a federal raid in south Minneapolis drew protests and intense scrutiny, Assistant [Minneapolis] Police Chief Katie Blackwell sent a department-wide memo emphasizing they are not allowed to assist with immigration enforcement. The email was sent to sworn and civilian staff Friday afternoon, three days after two armored vehicles and federal officers rolled through the streets of south Minneapolis to serve a search warrant in connection to what federal officials called a ‘transnational criminal organization’ suspected of drug and human trafficking and money laundering.

From the Associated Press: “Adults living in the U.S. illegally will be excluded from a state-run health care program under an overall budget deal that the closely divided Minnesota Legislature convened to pass in a special session Monday. … The change is expected to affect about 17,000 residents.”

From MPR News: “Our weather pattern will take a more typical summery and thundery June turn this week. Tuesday brings plenty of sunshine and warmer temperatures in the 80s to much of Minnesota. Then a warm front will stall across southern Minnesota along the Interstate 90 corridor between Wednesday and Friday. That front will be the focus of a few rounds of thunderstorms.”

From WCCO News: “The University of Minnesota is proposing tuition hikes of up to 7.5% and cuts to academic programs for the next fiscal year as it navigates what it calls ‘unprecedented challenges facing higher education.’ Under the proposal, undergraduate tuition rates would increase at all of U of M campuses across the state.” 

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From Bring Me The News: “Anxiety over current U.S. border and LGBTQ policies under the Trump administration has led a Canadian group to scrap the Minnesota leg of its annual cross-border Pride parade. Borderland Pride has announced that its cross-border Pride March will not start in International Falls this year. The event will instead take place entirely within Fort Frances on the Canadian side of the border.”

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Man fatally shoots his toddler daughter and then himself in Minneapolis home, police say

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Man fatally shoots his toddler daughter and then himself in Minneapolis home, police say


A man fatally shot his 2-year-old daughter and then himself in a Minneapolis home overnight, officials said Monday.

Minneapolis police said officers went to the home in the 2900 block of Colfax Avenue N. about 12:20 a.m. Monday and found the man and his daughter dead from gunshot wounds.

The girl’s mother was in the home and not physically harmed, police said.

“This is an unimaginable, heartbreaking tragedy,” read a statement from Police Chief Brian O’Hara. “Our hearts are with the child’s mother as she faces an overwhelming loss, and with the officers and investigators who responded to such a devastating scene.”

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Officials haven’t released the identities of the father or the girl.

There have been 24 homicides in Minneapolis this year, according to a Minnesota Star Tribune database. That compares to 33 at this time last year.



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