Source: Courthouse News Service
“Five months after a jury convicted them on dozens of prostitution and money laundering charges, a federal judge acquitted former executives of the controversial classified advertising website Backpage.com on most of the counts lodged against them. Backpage founder Michael Lacey and two executives Scott Spear and John Brunst were convicted in November after five years of prosecution and two lengthy trials — the first of which was declared a mistrial in 2021, and the second of which came close — over their roles in the Craigslist copycat. … Federal prosecutors spent two months during trial last year trying to convince a jury that Backpage executives knew of and actively facilitated the promotion of prostitution on their site by encouraging sex workers to post ads and helping them get around language filters to avoid police detection.” (04/24/24)