The following contains the analysis and opinions of the author and no one else.

On Sept. 11, 2024, in a black day for freedom of speech, journalist Michael Lacey, the former executive editor of a chain of 17 alt-weeklies known as Village Voice Media, turned himself in to federal marshals at Phoenix’s Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse to begin a five-year sentence for money laundering in connection with his former co-ownership of the classified ads site, Backpage.com.

Outside the courthouse, Lacey, 76, spoke briefly with reporter Morgan Loew of Arizona’s Family, who asked him if, during the time Lacey and his longtime business partner Jim Larkin owned Backpage (2004 to 2015), they thought they were doing anything wrong by publishing adult-themed advertising for escorts, striptease, massage and so forth, which had been posted to the site by its users.

“No, we didn’t think we were doing anything wrong,” Lacey said. “We thought the ads were legal. We were instructed by attorneys that the ads were legal. And we also cooperated with the government.”

Indeed, in 2011, Robert Mueller, then director of the FBI, signed a certificate of appreciation for Backpage, thanking the site for its assistance. Backpage answered subpoenas within 24 hours, faster in exigent circumstances, and trained law enforcement in how to use the site as a tool.

Loew cited a 2021 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which backed up Lacey’s statement about cooperation with law enforcement. The report pointed out that “the FBI’s ability to identify and locate sex trafficking victims and perpetrators was significantly decreased following the takedown of backpage.com.”  Why? Adult advertising had fled overseas to countries that are beyond the reach of U.S. authorities and do not answer U.S. subpoenas.

Prosecutors effectively blocked mountains of exculpatory evidence from the 2023 trial, including secret DOJ memos that argued against prosecuting Backpage, as well as the decisions of several federal courts holding that Backpage was protected by the First Amendment and Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

The prosecution also precluded a vigorous First Amendment defense, seized nearly all of the defendants’ assets and destroyed the most important trove of evidence in the case, the website itself.

This vindictive prosecutorial vendetta drove Larkin to suicide in 2023, days before the start of the second trial. The first trial, which took place in 2021, ended in a mistrial after just three days of testimony due to egregious prosecutorial misconduct.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons will decide what facility Lacey will be placed in and the conditions of his confinement.

The same is true for Lacey’s codefendants, former VVM executives Scott Spear and Jed Brunst, two law-abiding and honest men, who were sentenced to 10 years each after being convicted on a host of charges last year. Like Lacey, they are both in their 70s.

All three men have filed notices of appeal with the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. In court documents, their attorneys have signaled that they will ask the Ninth to release these men on bond pending the completion of the appeals process.

For regular updates on this case, please follow @StephenLemons and the hashtag #FreetheBackpage3 on X.

Please also see:
First Amendment Nightmare: Journalist Michael Lacey Sentenced to 5 Years, Fined $3M in Connection with Co-Ownership of Backpage
and
Government Asks Judge to Sentence Journalist Michael Lacey to 20 Years Imprisonment