Backpage.com Owners Convicted in Prostitution and Money Laundering Scheme

The former owners, who earned over $500 million from the scheme, face up to 20 years in prison for each count of money laundering.

Backpage.com's former owners, Michael Lacey, Scott Spear, and John Brunst, have been convicted of promoting prostitution and money laundering, earning over $500 million from the scheme.
The site, which was the internet's leading forum for prostitution ads from 2010 to 2018, used various marketing strategies and attempted to sanitize ads to maintain 'plausible deniability'.
The money earned was laundered through numerous shell companies created in multiple foreign countries.
Backpage's co-founder and CEO, Carl Ferrer, and its Sales & Marketing Director, Dan Hyer, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to facilitate prostitution and to engage in money laundering in 2018.
Lacey, Spear, and Brunst each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each money laundering count.