3 Backpage executives, including Phoenix New Times founder, sentenced for money laundering

PHOENIX – Three Backpage executives were sentenced Wednesday for their previous money laundering convictions, including a Phoenix New Times founder.

A federal judge in Phoenix ordered Michael Lacey, Scott Spear and John “Jed” Brunst to turn themselves into the U.S. Marshals Service by Sept. 11, according to the Department of Justice.

Lacey, Spear and Brunst owned Backpage.com from 2010 until the government seized the operation in 2018. Prosecutors said the website was a bastion for prostitution ads.

“The defendants and their conspirators obtained more than $500 million from operating an online forum that facilitated the sexual exploitation of countless victims,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the DOJ’s Criminal Division, said in a press release. “The defendants thought they could hide their illicit proceeds by laundering the funds through shell companies in foreign countries. But they were wrong.”

Here’s how long the Backpage executives were sentenced to prison

The Backpage executives were sentenced Wednesday after being convicted by a federal grand jury in November 2023.

Lacey, co-founder of the Phoenix New Times alternative weekly newspaper, was found guilty on one count of international concealment money laundering.

The 76-year-old Paradise Valley resident was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of supervised release.

Spear and Brunst, both of Phoenix, each received sentences of 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release.

Spear, 73, was convicted for conspiracy to violate the Travel Act, 17 counts of violating the Travel Act, money laundering conspiracy and 10 counts of concealment money laundering.

Brunst was found guilty of conspiracy to violate the Travel Act, money laundering conspiracy, 10 counts of concealment money laundering and five counts of international promotional money laundering.

“These convictions hold accountable three C-Suite executives who controlled an enterprise and its illicit profits,” said U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino for the District of Arizona. “The courage of the victims of Backpage’s criminal activities is vindicated by the sentences imposed by the court, to include the loss of liberty for each defendant as well as the additional large fine imposed on defendant Lacey.”

Others were previously prosecuted in the case

Although the three Backpage executives were sentenced this week, they weren’t the first people prosecuted in the case.

James Larkin, who cofounded the Phoenix New Times with Lacey in 1970, also was indicted, but he died at age 73 last year before going to trial.

In addition, two Texas-based Backpage executives pleaded guilty to related charges in 2018.

Several corporate entities also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in money laundering that year.

Two other Backpage employees were acquitted by a jury at the same trial where Lacey, Brunst and Spear were convicted of some counts.

Prosecutors said the three executives sentenced Wednesday were motivated by greed and misled organizations that combat sex trafficking and law enforcement officials about the true nature of Backpage’s business model.

Desiree Robinson, 16, was trafficked in Chicago on Backpage and killed in 2016 by a man who answered an online sex ad. Her mother, Yvonne Ambrose, told the judge on Tuesday about the pain she feels from her daughter’s death.

“I suffer every day from the loss of my baby,” Ambrose said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Follow @kstonezone