Teen Who Helped Sex-Trafficking GOP Donor Sentenced to 3 Years Prison
‘GRATEFUL I GOT CAUGHT’
The young woman who helped sex traffic vulnerable underage girls for GOP strategist Anton Lazarro was sentenced to spend three years in federal prison on Tuesday. Gisela Castro Medina, now 21, was indicted alongside Lazarro in 2021, and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors and one count of obstruction in Dec. 2022. Prosecutors argued that she “played a crucial and despicable role” in Lazarro’s scheme, where Castro Medina—then 18 years old—recruited six girls, all between 15 and 16 years old, to have sex with the strategist for money. Rachel Paulose, the former U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, pointed out that Castro Medina’s 36-month sentence was a fraction of the 21-year sentence handed to Lazzaro last month. The judge sentencing her on Tuesday acknowledged her cooperation with prosecutors as a factor in meting out what he called a “sufficient” sentence. “I’m not sorry I got caught,” Castro Medina said on Tuesday. “In fact, I’m grateful that I got caught.”