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Crime Businesses The Courts

Backpage.com Founder Michael Lacey Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison, Fined $3 Million (apnews.com) 59

Three former Backpage executives, including co-founder Michael Lacey, were sentenced to prison for promoting prostitution and laundering money while disguising their activities as a legitimate classified business. The Associated Press reports: A jury convicted Lacey, 76, of a single count of international concealment money laundering last year, but deadlocked on 84 other prostitution facilitation and money laundering charges. U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa later acquitted Lacey of dozens of charges for insufficient evidence, but he still faces about 30 prostitution facilitation and money laundering charges. Authorities say the site generated $500 million in prostitution-related revenue from its inception in 2004 until it was shut down by the government in 2018.

Lacey's lawyers say their client was focused on running an alternative newspaper chain and wasn't involved in day-to-day operations of Backpage. But Humetewa told Lacey during Wednesday's sentencing he was aware of the allegations against Backpage and did nothing. "In the face of all this, you held fast," Humetewa said. "You didn't do a thing." Two other Backpage executives, Chief Financial Officer John Brunst and Executive Vice President Scott Spear, also were convicted last year and were each sentenced on Wednesday to 10 years in prison. The judge ordered Lacey and the two executives to report to the U.S. Marshals Service in two weeks to start serving their sentences.

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Backpage.com Founder Michael Lacey Sentenced To 5 Years In Prison, Fined $3 Million

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  • For the crimes he committed he got a very light sentence.

    • Lacey had been the editor/publisher [wikipedia.org] of the New Times weekly newspaper in the metro Phoenix market, where he had worked since helping to found the publication in 1970

      After decades of digging into the political dirt, food, and entertainment in the valley, the Phoenix New Times had purchased the Village Voice and started similar papers nationwide by the time Backpage became an issue

      I had read the paper since my teens, and the Backpage had existed as a classified/job/dating site for decades before blowing up w

    • He did worse things than Pavel Durov?

    • by Shaitan ( 22585 )

      Given that consensual adult behavior shouldn't be illegal and letting people post ads to advertise it also shouldn't be illegal, it is actually a rather steep sentence.

    • From the summary he was only convicted of 1 money laundering charge. Even though the first line makes it look he was also convicted of facilitating prostitution, which he isn't.

      From https://www.ussc.gov/research/... [ussc.gov] the average sentence for money laundering is 71 months, or about 6 years so slightly below average.

      5 years doesn't seem that light to me for that. But in my opinion the sentences in the USA are insanely high. Really in all practicality the guy is 76 buy the time he gets out he will be 81, that's

  • by Applehu Akbar ( 2968043 ) on Wednesday August 28, 2024 @08:55PM (#64745314)

    The feds have been hounding this guy for years, starting with a raid on his house in my town, for the crime of...running.a classified ad site for hookers. They filed multiple charges on as many occcasions as it took to make something, anything, pass one jury. It's obvious that someone at the DOJ just doesn't like this guy. It's Martha Stewart all over again.

    • It's about winning a primary election, particularly a Republican primary election. Whichever prosecutor or AG spearheaded this is going to be able to run on it in a Republican primary and they're going to win hands down. It's a huge boost to somebody's political career among the culture war set.

      Folks really underestimate the impact primary elections have on our politics and hell our daily lives. It's a very small number of people who show up often as low as 4% of the voting public. And once they are in
      • Yes, nothing is coincidence in an election year, and everybody is out to get you. For what exactly nobody can be certain as you don't have any marketable skills or own anything of value. Maybe they just need a virgin to sacrifice?

        • it doesn't matter what year you get it, if you're running on Culture War B.S. guys like this are a huge prize. Every single prosecutor or AG with political aspirations (most of them) is gonna be gunning for him.

          This guy's mistake was not realizing how big a target he'd be and taking steps to protect himself.
          • Either way you should be careful. You're in your late 60s with no remaining family or friends, and you have no job, so basically nobody would notice you're missing. One of these days you'll wake up tied to a pentagram butt naked with a dude wearing a goat skull staring you down while he holds up a long dagger in his right hand and a bloody goat heart in his left hand shouting something in Latin.

      • WTF? a troll? Just because the R word was used upset a moderator? I'm glad a CEO got nailed finally for something. You don't have that kind of money without knowing where it's coming from.

        His mistake wasn't paying enough higher up Republican officials; he could have bought a pardon 4 years ago.

        • > upset a moderator

          Your enemies get mod points to (don't look back at scores).

          We'll judge you by the quality or depravity of your enemies.

      • Of all the political issues I worry about, I don't think "prostitution remains illegal" even makes the list. I mean yeah, from a purely logical standpoint if someone wants to sell access to their naughty bits until aging and gravity doing their things pushes them out of the market, they should technically have that right. But it's not something I'd have ever wanted be on either end of the transaction on, so I'm not losing any sleep at night over it remaining illegal.

        Plus, it also makes the setup for a rea

        • by PPH ( 736903 )

          Of all the political issues I worry about, I don't think "prostitution remains illegal" even makes the list.

          I'd like to see the federal laws banning prostitution. There really aren't many. It's a state by state thing (just what the GOP loves). 49 states outlaw it. Nevada says its legal*. Making a federal case out of this is going to take some prosecutorial contortions that normally I'd pay to see if they were wrapped around a brass pole.

          *Except for the bit about proximity to military bases.

          • by CaptQuark ( 2706165 ) on Wednesday August 28, 2024 @11:20PM (#64745496)

            A small exception is Maine. Last year Governor Mills signed a law that decriminalizes selling sex, but it remains illegal to pay for sex. It has some additional caveats, but it changes the focus to those most able to stop the practice - the customers.

            Four other states have reviewed bills that would decriminalize some part of prostitution - Hawaii, New York, Vermont, and Rhode Island - but nothing has made it to their Governor's desk yet.

            https://www.bangordailynews.co... [bangordailynews.com]

            • those most able to stop the practice - the customers

              Imagine decriminalizing drug dealers, while saying buyers are the real criminals.

            • by mjwx ( 966435 ) on Thursday August 29, 2024 @08:01AM (#64745970)

              A small exception is Maine. Last year Governor Mills signed a law that decriminalizes selling sex, but it remains illegal to pay for sex. It has some additional caveats, but it changes the focus to those most able to stop the practice - the customers.

              Four other states have reviewed bills that would decriminalize some part of prostitution - Hawaii, New York, Vermont, and Rhode Island - but nothing has made it to their Governor's desk yet.

              https://www.bangordailynews.co... [bangordailynews.com]

              Dare I risk infecting this kind of thinking with my European views, I mean the next thing that could happen is Americans expecting European style happiness...

              I've never got why the US demonises prostitution so much, well I get the religious aspect but you don't seem to mind all the other sins that you can buy, gluttony, greed, wrath, sloth, et al... why the special hate for sex.

              I digress, I don't see an issue with selling or buying sex. The real problem comes from pimping, people who profit from the endeavour but don't do anything or in a worse scenario, coerce or force vulnerable people into prostitution against their will. Laws punishing the lady or the John are laws that protect the pimp by making it harder for prostitutes in a bad situation to seek help or for a right minded individual to notify the authorities of an abuse (as a lot of abused people will not seek help on their own).

              If people want to engage in prostitution, let them and have an environment where they can do it safely. After all, it's the worlds oldest profession and if believing it's bad because Old Book says so hasn't gotten rid of it in the last 1700 years, it's not going to happen.

              • Dare I risk infecting this kind of thinking with my European views, I mean the next thing that could happen is Americans expecting European style happiness...

                Would that be being able to take the train to a brothel?

                • by mjwx ( 966435 )

                  Dare I risk infecting this kind of thinking with my European views, I mean the next thing that could happen is Americans expecting European style happiness...

                  Would that be being able to take the train to a brothel?

                  Whilst drinking beer that has a decent amount of alcohol in it.

              • I agree most of this but pimping is not necessarily bad its about taking advantage of people. Pimps and brothel owners may provide security and advertising. This happens in over situations too like sweat shops, I don't quite see how forcing people into prostitution is any worse than working someone to death.

                The problem is when there is a massive power imbalance people can be forced into grossly unfair situations, and its not a very good counter argument to say well they agreed. Contracts work well when the

            • by PPH ( 736903 )

              A small exception is Maine.

              Not really an exception. It's a state law. And unless the feds try and pull some "Interstate Commerce Clause" out of their nether regions, they'll just have to sit this one out.

              Or there could be some esoteric case law dealing with the injustice of making only one half of a transaction illegal (Equal Protection of the Law). But that's going to take some major digging through court decisions. And I suspect the feds will let this one lie.

          • by Shaitan ( 22585 )

            "I'd like to see the federal laws banning prostitution. There really aren't many. It's a state by state thing (just what the GOP loves). "

            Right... that's because the GOP is big on the Constitution and almost all authority delegated to the federal legislature relates to state interactions and multi-state issues, there are very few areas where the federal government has de jure legal authority to pass any kind of law that applies to individual people.

      • Can we rename this site to slashpolitics.dontcare ?
      • It's about winning a primary election, particularly a Republican primary election.

        Eh? How the heck are federal prosecutors "about" that?

      • by acroyear ( 5882 )

        One thing that happened recently in Wisconsin after the excessive gerrymandering was finally undone by the newly rebalanced court is that many of the extremists who kept winning primaries finally lost. Voters showed up knowing the general races in November were going to actually be competitive and selected more moderate Republicans.

    • This is why Mr. Telegram guy didn't want to live in the USA either. We do go after CEOs sometimes, usually when they haven't bothered to grease the right palms before doing something shady.

    • Not only was it just that, but they received a commendation from the FBI for going above and beyond the legal minimum to cooperate with investigations into trafficked and/or underage prostitution on the site, and implemented the FBI-recommended best practices for fighting it. The judge and government would later block exculpatory emails and use the 'best practices' as evidence they knew what was going on and "helped" traffickers by doing things like blocking certain keywords like the FBI suggested.
      Kamala H
      • Manipulative terminology works wonders. I remember when the left generally supported the idea of legalizing prostitution, a policy which might have prevented some of those incel school shootings. But as soon as The Authorities started calling it 'trafficking', any thought of legalization was immediately cast aside - by the same people.

        Kidnapping is already a crime in its own right, so there is no need to invent 'trafficking' as a separate offense.

    • Government officials love this sort of bust because it gets rid of a thorn in their side and allows them to claim it was to "save the children" simultaneously. Julian Assuange comes to mind as another example of somone accused of sex crimes but his real crime was he was considered a threat to governments. Anytime I hear "save the children" it almost always sounds like "lose free speech and civil rights"
    • by e3m4n ( 947977 )

      California Penal Code 288(a) says that any individual who commits a lewd or lascivious act against a child who is under the age of 14 years old is guilty of a felony sex crime and can be sentenced up to 8 years in a California state prison.

      Thats up to. Lots of cases of release less than 5 years. I find it despicable that running a classified ad for adult hookers carries longer sentences than someone raping a 10yr old. This is why the pizzagate and Jeffrey Epstein conspiracies take root. Because of the very

    • by Shaitan ( 22585 )

      It's far past time to remove these antiquated laws against sex work from the books. There is real crime that happens AROUND sex work but very little of it could survive the harsh disinfecting light of scrutiny and transparency.

      • The laws come from the modern practice of women voting; they of course vote to take men's money without working.
        • by Shaitan ( 22585 )

          This comes from the absolutely false notion that women didn't have de facto control of society prior to having official de jure voting authority. This is a ridiculous notion.

          Men exist for three things. The protection of damsels and children, pussy, and crushing threats.

          If a damsel presents herself a threat, it causes a man to short circuit. If women refuse men pussy it amounts to the same thing. There is literally no response to these scenarios which leaves the man in a superior position to the women intern

          • That's true, but also thought out most of history most men did not have the vote either. Having a vote is an almost insignificant power close enough to zero that it doesn't matter that is why I think so many people don't even bother to vote. Which is more influential a person out of lets say 1 million with a vote who can choose between 2 people who can't say why they voted that way. Or someone who can talk to the person in power, more so if the person in power finds them attractive.

            • by Shaitan ( 22585 )

              Indeed, we make the same point and that point scales whether it is one man/woman with a great deal of power or millions of men/women upon which that power is derived.

  • Yo Mama (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Yo mama just moved back to craigslist.

  • I could be wrong (Score:5, Informative)

    by Slashythenkilly ( 7027842 ) on Wednesday August 28, 2024 @10:13PM (#64745406)
    It would seem to me that having a go to site like Backpage would be great for LEO and anti-traffic agencies to monitor and enforce becausd its available to browse anytime rather than forcing people to go underground. Prostitution should be 100% legalized and regulated to protect the girls, punish those who would exploit them, and allow those who want out to seek a alternative employment.
    • It was great for prosecutions. each ad had to be tied to a credit card, so when police found an underage sex worker they'd contact backpage or whereever the ad they located the worker with was published, get the credit card number, and they'd have the pimp or pimp-adjacent person identified. the thing about police is that they used to love prosecuting these crimes - it was easy, they got good press, they had a villian, and it was cheap. perfect police activity. when the online advertising shut down the si
      • > the sites that remained moved offshore

        The Franklin Scandal and the Epstein Scandal tell us why this is important to politicians

        Imagine convicted Congressmen with little boys don't suffer what a Publisher will.

        Hopefully he has bail pending appeal?

        Will they go after Zuck or Musk next?

    • by e3m4n ( 947977 )

      The difficulty in doing all of that is implementation. Its hard to decriminalize it and at the same time prevent pimps from forcing girls into the sex trade. It used to be called pimping. Now its called human trafficking, in some cases because its more complex than simple pimping. A pimp is not a celebrity agent. Its someone who meets a girl, dates her, beats her up, apologizes, then starts forcing her to sell herself for sex to make money for ‘the family’. Its downhill from there.

  • 5 years in jail and I could walk away with $497 million dollars?!?
  • These ****erz are scared of sex. Sure, they legalize marijuana in the state CO I'm in. But they don't legalize prostitution.
    • > These ****erz are scared of sex

      Your government is run by the pencil-neck members of the Debate Club who never got any.

      (You Lincoln-Douglas guys are fine).

  • Just an observation: Such a huge difference in the reactions for telegram vs this backspace

    Why would that be ?

Heard that the next Space Shuttle is supposed to carry several Guernsey cows? It's gonna be the herd shot 'round the world.

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