Court case
United States v. Lacey et al.
United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Docket CR-18-00422-PHX (BSB).
- Jurisdiction
- US
- Docket number
- CR-18-00422-PHX (BSB)
- Linked takedowns
- 1
- People named
- 7
Case record
- Court
- United States District Court for the District of Arizona
- Jurisdiction
- US
- Docket number
- CR-18-00422-PHX (BSB)
- Status
- Lacey, Spear and Brunst convicted and sentenced; appeals/restitution continued; Hyer sentenced to time served; Larkin died before trial
- Status verified
- August 21, 2026
- Dataset id
- case_us_v_backpage_principals
The status line was checked against the public record on August 21, 2026. Proceedings may have moved since.
What this case entry is.
This entry records a court docket the audit located and checked: the case name, the court, the docket number where one is published, and the status the cited sources establish. It is not a summary of proceedings and it does not stand in for the docket itself.
A case listed here does not establish that anyone named on this page is guilty. Charges are accusations only. Where a cited source records a conviction or a guilty plea, that outcome is attributed to the source and this index asserts nothing beyond it.
Sources for this entry were reviewed to a research cutoff of August 21, 2026.
Takedowns linked to this case
1 takedown record in this index is linked to this case.
- Backpage.com seizure . Trafficking and exploitation, April 2018
People named in this case
7 people in this index are recorded as named in this case.
- Andrew Padilla . No alias recorded
- Dan Hyer . No alias recorded
- James Larkin . No alias recorded
- John “Jed” Brunst . No alias recorded
- Joye Vaught . No alias recorded
- Michael Lacey . No alias recorded
- Scott Spear . No alias recorded
Sources
4 sources support this entry. Each one is listed with the role it was relied on for.
- Backpage Principals Convicted of $500M Prostitution Promotion Scheme , Primary source . United States Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, November 17, 2023 . https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/backpage-principals-convicted-500m-prostitution-promotion-scheme
- Justice Department leads seizure of Backpage.com, indicts founders , Primary source . US DOJ / FBI, April 6, 2018 . https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/pr/justice-department-leads-effort-seize-backpagecom-internet-s-leading-forum-prostitution
- Three Owners of Notorious Prostitution Website Backpage Sentenced , Primary source . United States Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, August 28, 2024 . https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/three-owners-notorious-prostitution-website-backpagecom-sentenced
- United States v. Backpage case information and docket updates , Primary source . United States Attorney's Office, District of Arizona . https://www.justice.gov/usao-az/us-v-michael-lacey