Arizona AG's wife, judge won't recuse herself in Backpage case

PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge married to Arizona's attorney general says she will not recuse herself from a criminal case against the former executives of Backpage.com, who are accused of publishing ads for sexual services.

U.S. District Court Judge Susan Brnovich stated in a ruling that her marriage to Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who's made critical statements about sex trafficking and Backpage, won't affect her ability to be objective, the Arizona Capitol Times reported Sunday.

In September, attorneys for Backpage founders Michael Lacey and James Larkin criticized statements made in a human trafficking booklet published by the attorney general's office, which describes the ad site as a place where sex is frequently purchased.

The request for Judge Susan Brnovich to recuse herself also said the attorney general has invited members of the public to visit websites that contain inflammatory information about Backpage and its operators.

The judge says their filing came a year and a half after she inherited the case and she has already made some rulings against them. She also said recusal is required if a family member of a judge has any financial interest in the outcome. Her husband has none and he isn't a member of any organization representing any party in the case, she added.

Attorneys for Lacey and Larkin did not immediately respond Monday to requests for comment from The Associated Press.

Backpage's operators are accused of ignoring warnings to stop running prostitution ads, sometimes involving children, after the site brought in $500 million of prostitution-related revenue since its inception in 2004.
Prosecutors alleged the site gave free ads to prostitutes and cultivated arrangements with others who worked in the sex trade to get them to post ads with the company. Some of the site's operators also are accused of laundering money earned from ad sales after banks raised concerns that they were being used for illegal purposes.

Lacey, Larkin and four employees have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Their trial is scheduled to begin in January.

The site's marketing director has already pleaded guilty to conspiring to facilitate prostitution and acknowledged he participated in a scheme to give free ads to prostitutes to win over their business.

Additionally, the company's chief executive, Carl Ferrer, pleaded guilty to a separate federal conspiracy case in Arizona and to state money laundering charges in California.