Michael Lacey Sentenced to Prison for Five Years, Fined $3 Mil

PHOENIX—A federal district judge in Arizona today sentenced critically acclaimed journalist and award-winning civil libertarian Michael Lacey to five years in prison and fined him $3 million in a case related to his involvement with Backpage.com, reports the Associated Press. A sentencing memo filed by federal prosecutors on Monday before the two-day sentencing hearing requested Lacey be sentenced to 20 years in prison. Lacey, 76, is one of the co-founders of the now-defunct Backpage classifieds website. U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa of the District of Arizona sentenced Lacey for a single charge of international concealment money laundering on which he was convicted in November 2023. "I was found guilty on one count of concealment," Lacey said in a statement provided to the public after sentencing. "This is simply a mistake. Nothing was concealed." Frontpage Confidential, a news and analysis blog published by journalist Stephen Lemons, covered the case for years. Lacey, alongside Backpage co-founder Jim Larkin, was indicted on crimes related to facilitating prostitution and engaging in sex trafficking. On 84 other counts against Lacey, the November jury was deadlocked, forcing a mistrial. Despite this and being sentenced on the money laundering conviction, he still faces about 30 prostitution facilitation and other money laundering charges. These are pending. The November mistrial was the second in the effort by federal prosecutors to convict Lacey and the late Larkin on a wide range of crimes, including charges related to prostitution and violations of the Travel Act. Judge Humetewa declared a mistrial after the jurors deliberated for days at the time. According to the Associated Press at the time, Lacey’s first mistrial was in 2021, when a federal judge found that prosecutors made prejudicial references to child sex trafficking when no one at the time—Lacey, Larkin or other Backpage execs—faced such charges. Prosecutors said moderation efforts by the site were aimed at concealing the nature of advertisements to cater to sex workers and/or pimps. Note that Lacey and Larkin sold their interests in the parent company of Backpage.com in 2015. However, prosecutors argue the founders supposedly retained control.   Corey Silverstein, a criminal defense and First Amendment attorney based in Michigan, told AVN in November 2023 that the federal government failed to deliver a compelling case and relied on a faulty view of the First Amendment online.   “I still find this entire prosecution against Backpage a conservative witch hunt and a blow to free speech,” Silverstein said.   "This entire ordeal is a shame; hopefully, the court of appeals will see these charges for what they really are."