The previous CEO of the now defunct Backpage.com wasted little time implicating his former colleagues in federal courtroom.

“They
have been prostitution advertisements,” Carl Ferrer instructed 16 jurors Tuesday afternoon.
“We needed (prospects) that might reply to prostitutes. The Johns.”

The jurors are tasked with delivering a verdict on 5 defendants dealing with a 100-count felony indictment
charging them with facilitating prostitution, cash laundering and
conspiracy fees for his or her roles as homeowners and operators of the
categorised promoting web site Backpage. 

The web site, based by Ferrer together with Michael Lacey and James Larkin,
who additionally based the choice weekly Phoenix New Occasions, operated as a
mirror to Craigslist from 2004 to 2018, when the FBI seized the positioning
and the executives’ belongings, accusing them of knowingly facilitating
prostitution. 

Attorneys for the 5 defendants every took practically an hour for opening statements
over two trial days to attract distinctions between Backpage’s grownup
ads, which included escorts, physique rubs and different sexual
companies, and prostitution advertisements. 

Ferrer, who served as gross sales and
advertising director, vp, president and finally CEO when he
purchased the corporate in 2015, mentioned there’s no distinction. He spent a
chunk of his first day on the witness stand describing Backpage’s
relationship with the Erotic Assessment, or “Yelp for prostitution,” as he
known as it. 

He mentioned the 2 web sites shared hyperlinks between feminine
escort advertisements on Backpage and evaluation pages for those self same suppliers, which
contained critiques written by prospects concerning the express intercourse acts they
provided for cash. 

“Did you ever see a evaluation that wasn’t for prostitution?” prosecutor Kevin Rapp requested Ferrer.

“No,” he answered.

Every
website additionally ran banner advertisements for the opposite. Backpage paid the Erotic Assessment
$4,000 a month to take care of the connection, Ferrer mentioned. 

The
website made practically all of its cash, which reached round $150 million per
12 months, off of feminine escort advertisements — the one advertisements the web site charged cash
to position, Ferrer testified. Advertisers paid only some {dollars} per advert
at first, however “as Backpage turned extra of a monopoly within the prostitution
class, costs went up,” he mentioned.

He additionally described doing
enterprise with a person identified to him and the defendants as “Greenback Invoice,”
who incessantly ran advertisements for his Asian therapeutic massage parlor enterprise on
Backpage. 

“In the event you went to Greenback Invoice’s weblog, the Psycho Roundup, he talked about his enterprise,” Ferrer mentioned. “Very descriptive of sexual companies.”

Protection
attorneys anticipated Ferrer’s testimony and shifted the blame to him
whereas sustaining doubt that the advertisements really provided prostitution.
Defendants always relied on Ferrer’s management and judgment whereas
operating the positioning, attorneys mentioned, and in the end adopted instructions as
to what advertisements to permit. 

David Eisenberg, representing former operations supervisor Andrew Padilla, known as Ferrer a “guiding gentle” at Backpage. 

Of
the 50 advertisements listed within the indictment as proof of facilitating
prostitution, lower than half of them ran earlier than Ferrer took over the
firm in 2015, based on Bruce Feder, who’s representing former
govt vp Scott Spear. Solely one of many advertisements accommodates a
direct supply of a sexual act, in that case, a blowjob, for cash, he
mentioned.

“The federal government claims you may inform a prostitution advert simply by taking a look at it,” Feder mentioned. “Flawed!”

He learn off previous Backpage advertisements as examples:

“‘One
evening stand for $100,’ all of us perceive, might imply a one evening stand
to have intercourse,” Feder mentioned. “It might additionally imply one nightstand subsequent to
your mattress for $100.

“‘Put it within the gap for $100,’” he continued.
“Fairly graphic. Or a billiards parlor is having a contest and the
winner will get 100 bucks.”

Feder requested the jury to ignore Ferrer’s
testimony, saying he’s solely testifying to flee the doubtless
decades-long jail sentence the defendants are hoping to keep away from. He took
a plea deal in 2018 when the positioning was seized. 

“Fairly an
incentive to lie,” Feder mentioned. “To attempt to incriminate folks that you just’ve
been telling ‘you’re doing all the pieces proper’ for 18 years.”

The
defendants are additionally charged with cash laundering, which Ferrer
defined stems from 2015, simply three months after he purchased the positioning,
when main bank card corporations stopped permitting their prospects to make use of
their playing cards on Backpage. 

Visa and Mastercard halted enterprise with Backpage underneath political stress from Cook dinner County, Illinois, Sheriff Tom Dart.

Ferrer
instructed the jury that Backpage, in response to the event, created
shell corporations in Europe to route funds by means of European banks.
Doing so saved the bank card corporations at midnight and allowed Backpage
to remain in enterprise. 

“We arrange companions in Europe utilizing 5
separate holding corporations utilizing completely different net domains to hide the
transactions,” he mentioned. 

Ferrer is anticipated to stay within the
witness field for at the least the following few days, and doubtlessly a number of
weeks, based on counsel on either side. He’ll return to the stand
Wednesday.