Carl Ferrer, the former CEO of Backpage.com, walked out of a federal courtroom in Arizona this week with just three years of probation and a $40,000 restitution order. That’s the end result of a conspiracy plea he struck back in 2018, when the feds stormed in to take down Backpage — once the largest online classifieds site for adult services.
Prosecutors painted Ferrer as a key cooperator, saying his testimony was “almost entirely responsible” for securing a $200 million victims’ fund. Translation: he flipped. He handed the government the ammunition they wanted in order to bring down Backpage’s founders, Michael Lacey and James Larkin.
But here’s the part you won’t see emphasized in most headlines: the government’s crusade against Backpage was never just about sex trafficking. It was about making an example of a website — and by extension, about chilling online speech that they couldn’t control.
In 2023, after years of courtroom drama, the government finally dragged Lacey through another trial.
The result? Out of 84 charges, he was convicted of just one — an obscure “international concealment” money laundering count. A federal judge threw out 53 counts outright for lack of evidence. The jury deadlocked on the rest, unable to buy the prosecution’s case.
James Larkin never made it that far. He took his own life in 2023 while awaiting retrial.
So what we’re left with is this: a high-profile takedown that destroyed a platform, wrecked reputations, and pushed sex work further underground — while the supposed “kingpin” CEO walks with probation. Meanwhile, the founders who actually stood for something bigger — press freedom, civil liberties, and refusing to bow to power — were hounded to their graves.
The government will tell you this was a victory against trafficking. But for anyone paying closer attention, it looks more like a victory against free speech — and a warning shot to anyone who dares build platforms the state can’t easily control.
Prosecutors painted Ferrer as a key cooperator, saying his testimony was “almost entirely responsible” for securing a $200 million victims’ fund. Translation: he flipped. He handed the government the ammunition they wanted in order to bring down Backpage’s founders, Michael Lacey and James Larkin.
But here’s the part you won’t see emphasized in most headlines: the government’s crusade against Backpage was never just about sex trafficking. It was about making an example of a website — and by extension, about chilling online speech that they couldn’t control.
In 2023, after years of courtroom drama, the government finally dragged Lacey through another trial.
The result? Out of 84 charges, he was convicted of just one — an obscure “international concealment” money laundering count. A federal judge threw out 53 counts outright for lack of evidence. The jury deadlocked on the rest, unable to buy the prosecution’s case.
James Larkin never made it that far. He took his own life in 2023 while awaiting retrial.
So what we’re left with is this: a high-profile takedown that destroyed a platform, wrecked reputations, and pushed sex work further underground — while the supposed “kingpin” CEO walks with probation. Meanwhile, the founders who actually stood for something bigger — press freedom, civil liberties, and refusing to bow to power — were hounded to their graves.
The government will tell you this was a victory against trafficking. But for anyone paying closer attention, it looks more like a victory against free speech — and a warning shot to anyone who dares build platforms the state can’t easily control.
