How the Feds destroyed Backpage.com and its founders

By prosecuting the website's founders, the government chilled free speech online and ruined lives.

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"I'm having the lawyers inquire as to whether or not I can bring a library with me to prison," Michael Lacey said with resignation. The Backpage co-founder and former alt-weekly magnate was standing in the library of his labyrinthine Paradise Valley, Arizona, home. The room abuts one of Lacey's two home offices, each teeming with books, family photos, journalism awards, and file folders—a mix of case files and past work he's been combing through as he works on a book proposal.

It was March 2024, and Lacey was still holding out hope of avoiding federal prison. But prosecutors were eager to send him there, and Lacey recognized that may well be his fate.

Elizabeth Nolan Brown was there with a Reason video crew, interviewing Lacey for a documentary. This was Brown's second visit to Lacey's home. The first, in 2018, was not long after the feds raided the place, and the vibe was different then. Lacey and his longtime friend and business partner James Larkin were pissed but not dejected. They cracked jokes about their enemies—folks such as Sen. John McCain (R–Ariz.) and former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. They told elaborate stories about the heyday of their alt-weekly empire, finishing each other's sentences. They broke out wine from Larkin's vineyard and vowed they would fight this to the end.

Larkin committed suicide a week before the pair's second federal trial was scheduled to start in August 2023.

In Brown's second visit, Lacey was still cracking jokes and telling stories. But no one was there to finish his sentences, to remind him of the name of some official they angered once upon a time, to laugh with him about the wild office parties they threw in the 1970s, to try to rein him in (not always successfully) when his language got a little too colorful. "I still catch myself before I've had coffee, saying 'Ah, I've got to send this to Jim,' OK? I'll see something and it's like: 'Oh, fuck. No sending anything to Jim.'"

In September, Lacey turned himself over to the U.S. Marshals—no library in tow, unsure even where he'd be imprisoned. Prosecutors recommended a 20-year sentence for the 76-year-old Lacey. U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa instead sentenced him to five years plus a $3 million fine.

Lacey's path from journalist to felon is at once unique—a product of particular times, temperaments, technological changes, and moral panics—and all too familiar. It's a story of how far government agents will go to punish people who defy them, and a playbook for authorities intent on wresting more control over online speech of all sorts.

Photo Credits: Cliff Owen/AP Photos; Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Newscom; Photos: Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS/Newscom; Jesse Rieser; Russ Smith; Scott Carson/ZUMAPRESS; Photos: Moose/AdMedia/Newscom; Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom; Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call/Newscom; Mario Anzuoni/REUTERS/Newscom; Ricardo Watson/UPI/Newscom; Richard Messina/Hartford Courant/MCT/Newscom; © Sacramento Bee/ZUMApress/Newscom; Photos: Hector Amezcua/Sacramento Bee/TNS/Newscom; Photos: Jason Reed/REUTERS/Newscom; Photos: Armando Arorizo/EFE/Newscom; Courtesy Everett Collection/Newscom; Rod Lamkey/CNP/Polaris/Newscom; Photos: Rod Lamkey/CNP/Sipa USA/Newscom; Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom; Photos: Jimin Kim/SOPA Images/Sipa USA/Newscom; Additional Photos Provided By: Michael Lacey, Stephen Lemons/ Douliery Olivier/ABACA/Newscom

Music Credits: “Behind Every Decision,” “A Journey’s Epilogue,” and “Murmuring,” by Yehezkel Raz via Artlist; “Goodbyes,” by Ian Post via Artlist; “Strange Connection,” and “Momento,” by Nobou via Artlist; “Kiss of Death,” and “Evidence,” by Kadir Demir via Artlist; “Fundy,” by REW via Artlist; “Turning Point,” and “Marakana” by Alon Peretz via Artlist; “Eureka,” by Ardie Son via Artlist; “Bark Technology” by YesNoMaybe via Artlist; “Wok Like a Cowboy,” by Ofer Koren via Artlist; “Dust and Danger,” by The North via Artlist; “Odd Numbers,” by Curtis Cole via Artlist; “Attacca,” and “Eris” by Brianna Tam via Artlist;

Video Producers: Elizabeth Nolan Brown and Paul Detrick

Video Editor: Paul Detrick

Motion Graphics: Paul Detrick

Color: Cody Huff

Audio Production: Ian Keyser

Cinematography: Clay Haskell, Issac Reese, Haley Saunders, James Lee Marsh

#documentary #criminaljustice #freespeech