State Glance
Backpage.com, CEO plead guilty to state, U.S. charges
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The chief executive of a website that authorities have dubbed a lucrative nationwide “online brothel” pleaded guilty Thursday to state and federal charges including conspiracy and money laundering, and agreed to testify in ongoing prosecutions against others at Backpage.com, authorities said.
Federal prosecutors say that Arizona-based Backpage brought in a half-billion dollars since it began in 2004, mostly through prominent risque advertising for escorts and massages, among other services and some goods for sale. Authorities allege the site was often used to traffic underage victims.
Chief Executive Officer Carl Ferrer will serve no more than five years in prison under a California agreement in which he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and three counts of money laundering in California. Also Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the company pleaded guilty to human trafficking.
And a federal judge in Phoenix unsealed an April 5 plea deal revealing that Ferrer pleaded guilty to conspiracy, and Backpage.com pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy.
Man guilty in death of former Supreme Court justice’s sister
TUCSON — A Tucson man has been convicted of negligent homicide in a 2016 car crash that killed the younger sister of former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Jurors on Wednesday also convicted Jarrad Barnes of criminal damage, endangerment, driving with an illegal drug and possession of marijuana.
Authorities say 77-yearold Ann Day suffered fatal injuries after her vehicle was struck head-on by a car that crossed a median.
Day was a former Arizona Republican state senator and Pima County supervisor.
Banner settles lawsuit over Medicare claims for $18M
PHOENIX — Phoenixbased Banner Health has settled a federal lawsuit accusing the health provider of submitting unnecessary and false Medicare claims for more than $18 million.
The U.S. Justice Department, which says Banner Health also inflated the number of hours of outpatient care, announced the settlement Thursday.
The lawsuit was brought by a former employee who will receive roughly $3.3 million of the settlement.
Prosecutors say Banner Health charged Medicare for short-stay, inpatient procedures instead of on a less costly outpatient basis at 12 hospitals in Arizona and Colorado. They say this practice began in November 2007 and went on for more than nine years.