Phoenix New Times, Backpage.com founder surrenders to US Marshals

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The founder of the Phoenix New Times and one of the creators of the notorious website, Backpage.com, surrendered to U.S. Marshals Service in the federal courthouse in downtown Phoenix Wednesday morning.

Michael Lacey had been sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of one count of money laundering.

Federal prosecutors had tried twice to convict Lacey of prostitution-related charges.

The first effort ended in a mistrial due to prosecutorial misconduct.

Before the second trial, Lacey’s co-defendant, James Larkin, committed suicide.

After the second trial, the jury deadlocked on all but the money laundering charge. The judge threw out 50 of the remaining counts.

“Jim was told by every lawyer that he consulted with that the ads on Backpage were legal,” said Lacey in an exclusive interview with Arizona’s Family outside the federal courthouse. “We didn’t think we were doing anything wrong. We thought the ads were legal. We were instructed by the attorneys that the ads were legal. And we always cooperated with the government,” he said.

The takedown of Backpage was an effort by federal prosecutors to crack down on online prostitution. The website had a popular “adult” section.

But a federal audit released in 2021 concluded that the removal of the website had actually made it more difficult to find and prosecute online sex traffickers, in part, because Backpage had a reputation for cooperating with authorities.

“When we were cooperating with the government, there were hundreds of rescues of underage people who had snuck through the system,” said Lacey.

Larkin and Lacey started the Phoenix New Times in the early 1970s.

Their chain of alt-weekly newspapers eventually grew to 17 and spanned the country.

Their papers were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize five times and winners of one Pulitzer. The articles were known for their edge, often taking on powerful politicians and businesses.

Lacey and Larkin were once arrested by detectives working for former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The charges were quickly thrown out.

The move to Backpage.com resulted from the effect Craigslist had on the classified ad business.

It was Lacey and Larkin’s effort to retain some of the ad revenue they were losing in order to keep funding their newspapers.

But Backpage became known for and notorious for its adult section.

Federal prosecutors shut it down in 2018 when they indicted Lacey, Larkin and other Backpage officials.

Prosecutors referred to it as a prostitution website.

When asked on Wednesday whether he would have done anything differently, Lacey said, “I don’t know. I don’t know what would have happened. You never have any foreknowledge when you’re doing these things. We were told that it was legal by attorneys. We had judges that ruled that it was legal. We were cooperating with the government. I think that this was a moral panic that got out of hand.”

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