Gisela Medina to spend Valentine's Day with family, out of halfway house

The co-defendant accused of helping a prominent Minnesota GOP donor recruit underage girls for sex will get to spend Valentine's Day with family at her parents' home.

Lawyers for Gisela Medina filed a motion in U.S. District Court Tuesday requesting she be allowed to leave the halfway house on Feb. 14, in order to be at her parents' home for Valentine's Day. Neither the U.S. government nor her probation officer objected, and U.S. Magistrate Judge David Schulz signed off on the request Wednesday. 

Medina was indicted on Aug. 16 last year on seven counts related to child sex trafficking. She'd charged as a co-defendant alongside Anton Lazzaro, a Republican operative accused by federal prosecutors of child sex trafficking. The charges allege Medina helped connect Lazzaro with the victims.

She has pleaded not guilty.

On Valentine's Day, Medina will get to go from treatment (which ends around 2:30 p.m.) to her family's home, where she can stay until the evening. According to the judge's order, Medina must be back at the halfway house by 9 p.m.; cannot be around alcohol or any minors besides her sibling; and is required to respond to calls as directed by the halfway house.

The court has previously granted Medina's requests to go home for Thanksgiving, Christmas and her birthday, and she "complied with all of her conditions" during those previous furloughs, the motion argued. 

A motion hearing in Medina's case is set for Feb. 17.

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