The Backpage Trial Finally Ends-With a Suicide and a Sentencing

UNFAIR ALLEGATIONS OF SEX TRAFFICKING CHILLED FREE SPEECH ONLINE AND RUINED LIVES.

- ELIZABETH NOLAN BROWN

"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 cofounder 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.

I was there with a Reason video crew, interviewing Lacey for a documentary. This was my 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.