A federal district judge in Arizona has sentenced Michael Lacey, a critically acclaimed journalist and award-winning civil libertarian, to five years in prison and imposed a $3 million fine in connection with his involvement with Backpage.com, according to the Associated Press.
Lacey, 76, co-founded the now-defunct
Backpage classifieds website, which has been at the center of a legal battle over allegations of facilitating prostitution and sex trafficking. U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa handed down the sentence after Lacey was convicted of a single charge of international concealment money laundering in November 2023.
Before the two-day sentencing hearing, federal prosecutors had sought a much harsher penalty, requesting that Lacey be sentenced to
20 years in prison.
However, the judge opted for a significantly lower sentence.
In a statement following the sentencing, Lacey maintained his innocence, saying, "I was found guilty on one count of concealment. This is simply a mistake. Nothing was concealed."
The case against Lacey, which has been closely followed by the media, has been fraught with complications. Lacey and his late co-founder Jim Larkin were initially indicted on charges related to facilitating prostitution and sex trafficking. However, the November trial ended in a mistrial on 84 other counts, leaving about 30 charges related to prostitution facilitation and money laundering still pending.
This recent mistrial was the second in the ongoing effort by federal prosecutors to secure a conviction. The first mistrial, declared in 2021, occurred after a federal judge ruled that prosecutors had made prejudicial references to child sex trafficking, even though Lacey, Larkin, and other Backpage executives were not facing such charges at that time.
Federal prosecutors have argued that Backpage's moderation efforts were designed to obscure the true nature of advertisements on the site, effectively catering to sex workers and pimps. Despite Lacey and Larkin selling their interests in the site's parent company in 2015, prosecutors claim that the founders continued to exert control over the platform.
Commenting on the case, Corey Silverstein, a criminal defense and First Amendment attorney, criticized the prosecution, describing it as a "conservative witch hunt and a blow to free speech." Silverstein expressed hope that the court of appeals would overturn the charges, calling the entire ordeal "a shame."
Lacey's legal battles are far from over, with
additional charges still looming as he prepares to appeal his conviction.
