PHOENIX—Carl Ferrer, former Backpage.com chief executive officer, was sentenced to conspiracy charges related to money laundering and sex trafficking accusations.
He appeared before a federal district court in Arizona on Tuesday, and was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution to eight individuals who were victimized through trafficking via the prostitution advertisements on the website that existed from 2004 to its federal seizure in 2018.
“We would not have an understanding of the nature and circumstances of the offenses but for Mr. Ferrer,” lead federal prosecutor Kevin Rapp explained to U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa of the District of Arizona. “He is almost entirely responsible for us having that $200 million victims’ fund.”
Ferrer pleaded guilty to conspiracy back in 2018 when he and Backpage co-founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin were arrested along with other employees for the parent company of the now-defunct classifieds website. Such arrests allowed federal law enforcement to seize more than $200 million, which allowed Ferrer to enter into a deal in exchange for cooperation in the investigation and a significantly lighter sentencing.
Lacey and Larkin were considered key players in the Backpage scheme, prosecutors noted. However, it has remained extremely evident throughout the various trials and years of litigation related to Backpage that many of the implications of arresting Lacey and Larkin directly and indirectly chilled otherwise legal forms of expression.
Lacey was found 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, 2024.
"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.
Also note that the jury in the case was hung on the remaining convictions because of enough reasonable doubt by the defense. Larkin committed suicide in July 2023. Award-winning civil libertarian journalists, Lacey and Larkin earned a reputation for their unashamed reporting on social justice and political issues.
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.
