Federal Judge Acquits Backpage Exec on 53 of 84 Charges

PHOENIX—Months after a hung jury found Backpage.com co-founder Michael Lacey guilty of international concealment money laundering for transferring funds to an overseas bank in Hungary, a federal district judge acquitted him of 53 of the remaining 84 criminal counts. U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa of the District of Arizona issued the order on April 23. "After viewing the record in the light most favorable to the Government, the Court finds there is insufficient evidence to support convictions," the judge wrote, referring to Lacey and two other Backpage executives who were found guilty in a November 2023 retrial. The other two executives are Jed Brunst and Scott Spear, reports journalist Stephen Lemons in a Thursday piece for the Lacey-connected Frontpage Confidential news blog. Lemons explains how these acquittals came to fruition. Rule 29 motions, Lemons wrote, are made when the government fails to present evidence that would result in convictions and could be sustained if challenged. Judge Humetewa granted a Rule 29 motion on 53 of the counts made against Lacey in hopes of a retrial that federal prosecutors intend to carry out in August 2024.  Brunst and Spear were also acquitted on several charges. Brunst had 16 charges removed, and Spear had 10.  "Essentially, the feds want Lacey, a longtime free speech advocate, to die in prison," reports Lemons. "They’ve already caused the death of Jim Larkin, Lacey’s longtime business partner, fellow newspaperman, and co-defendant in the Backpage case." Larkin committed suicide in July at the age of 74.  Larkin and Lacey transformed the Phoenix New Times into a formidable paper of record covering Maricopa County and the greater Phoenix, Arizona area. They took on major political figures, including former Maricopa County sheriff and convicted criminal Joe Arpaio and the late U.S. Senator John McCain.  The two quickly developed a market for alt-weekly news outlets and generated a journalism empire that featured the iconic Village Voice, based in New York. Seeing a market for sex personals and classifieds, the pair developed Backpage.com as an early leader in online marketing and a friendly environment for legal and consensual sex work. In 2018, both were indicted by conservative-leaning federal prosecutors for allegedly violating criminal provisions implemented by the Trump-era FOSTA-SESTA law. This has developed into one of the most noteworthy fights over freedom of speech online and the First Amendment ever seen.