Case 2:18-cr-00422-SPL Document 64 Filed 04/13/18 Page 1 of 4

1 ELIZABETH A. STRANGE
First Assistant United States Attorney
2 District of Arizona
3 KEVIN M. RAPP (Ariz. Bar No. 14249, kevin.rapp@usdoj.gov)
DOMINIC LANZA (Cal. Bar No. 225989, dominic.lanza@usdoj.gov)
4 MARGARET PERLMETER (Ariz. Bar No. 024805, margaret.perlmeter@usdoj.gov)
Assistant U.S. Attorneys
5 40 N. Central Avenue, Suite 1800
Phoenix, Arizona 85004-4408
6 Telephone (602) 514-7500
7 JOHN P. CRONAN
Acting Assistant Attorney General
8 Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice
9 REGINALD E. JONES (Miss. Bar No. 102806, reginald.jones4@usdoj.gov)
Senior Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice
10 Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section
950 Pennsylvania Ave N.W., Room 2116
11 Washington, D.C. 20530
Telephone (202) 616-2807
12 Attorneys for Plaintiff
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14 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
15 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
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United States of America, CR-18-00422-PHX-SPL (BSB)
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Plaintiff, UNITED STATES’ UNOPPOSED
18 MOTION TO DESIGNATE CASE
v. COMPLEX, CONTINUE THE TRIAL
19 DATE, AND SET A STATUS
CONFERENCE AND PROPOSED
20 ORDER
1. Michael Lacey
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2. James Larkin
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3. Scott Spear
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4. John “Jed” Brunst
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5. Dan Hyer
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6. Andrew Padilla
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7. Joye Vaught
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28 Defendants.
 Case 2:18-cr-00422-SPL Document 64 Filed 04/13/18 Page 2 of 4

1 INTRODUCTION
2 The United States respectfully moves this court, pursuant to local criminal rule 16.4,
3 to designate this matter a “complex case" within the meaning of 18 U.S.C.
4 § 3161(h)(8)(B)(ii). The United States additionally moves the Court to continue the
5 current trial date (June 5, 2018) and set a status conference within 21 days of the
6 complex case designation to determine a schedule for motions, discovery, and other
7 pre-trial case management issues. The defendants do not oppose this motion.
8 Excludable delay under 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(8)(B)(ii) will occur as a result of
9 this motion or an order based thereon.
10 MEMORANDUM
11 On March 28, 2018, the United States obtained an indictment of Michael Lacey,
12 James Larkin, Scott Spear, John “Jed” Brunst, Dan Hyer, Andrew Padilla, and Joye
13 Vaught. Each defendant has made an initial appearance. The current motion deadline
14 is April 26, 2018, and the current trial date is June 5, 2018.
15 The 93-count indictment charges the defendants with conduct stretching over a
16 more than decade-long period involving thousands upon thousands of ads posted on the
17 website Backpage.com. The case also includes numerous financial transactions, some of
18 which are cross-border and involve wire transfers, credit card processing, money orders,
19 and cryptocurrency (bitcoin). The discovery will include voluminous items seized by
20 the United States pursuant to numerous search warrants and other documents the
21 United States obtained during its investigation. In addition, many witness have been
22 interviewed and the interview reports are numerous. The case also may involve
23 various expert designations.
24 As a result, the United States will be producing substantial documentary evidence
25 involving hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of documents from the United States and
26 abroad. The United States intends to begin producing these items to the defendants, on
27 a rolling basis, likely through a computer program known as Relativity. The volume
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 Case 2:18-cr-00422-SPL Document 64 Filed 04/13/18 Page 3 of 4

1 of discovery in this case makes it unreasonable to expect adequate preparation for trial or
2 pretrial proceedings within the time limits proscribed by the Speedy Trial Act (STA).
3 For these reasons, and as other courts in this Circuit have regularly done in cases
4 involving cross-border events and voluminous discovery, this Court should designate the
5 case as complex for purposes of the STA and Local Criminal Rule 16.4, continue the
6 current trial date, and set a status conference within 21 days of the complex case
7 designation to determine a schedule for motions, discovery, and other pre-trial case
8 management issues. See 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(8)(B)(ii) (court should consider whether the
9 case is “so complex, due to the number of defendants, the nature of the prosecution, or the
10 existence of novel questions of fact or law, that it is unreasonable to expect adequate
11 preparation for pretrial proceedings or for the trial itself within the time limits established
12 by” the STA); United States v. Butz, 982 F.2d 1378, 1381 (9th Cir. 1993) (approving “ends
13 of justice” continuance where there were nine defendants, a 29-count indictment,
14 voluminous discovery, and many witnesses). A case management schedule will allow the
15 Court to establish a consolidated schedule for discovery and motions, which will maximize
16 the efficiency and effectiveness of the process.
17 For these reasons, the United States respectfully requests that the Court
18 grant this unopposed motion to designate this a “complex case,” continue the trial
19 date, and set a status conference within 21 days of the complex case designation to
20 determine a schedule for motions, discovery, and other pre-trial case management
21 issues. Counsel for all defendants have informed the United States that they do not oppose
22 //
23 //
24 //
25 //
26 //
27 //
28 //

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 Case 2:18-cr-00422-SPL Document 64 Filed 04/13/18 Page 4 of 4

1 this request for a complex-case designation.

2 Respectfully submitted this 13th day of April 2018.
3 ELIZABETH A. STRANGE
First Assistant United States Attorney
4 District of Arizona
5 JOHN P. CRONAN
Acting Assistant Attorney General
6 Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice
7 /s Kevin Rapp__________________________
KEVIN M. RAPP
8 DOMINIC LANZA
MARGARET PERLMETER
9 Assistant U.S. Attorneys
10 REGINALD E. JONES
Senior Trial Attorney
11 U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division
Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section
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13 Certificate of Service: I hereby certify that on this date, I electronically transmitted the
attached document to the Clerk’s Office using the CM/ECF system for filing and
14 transmittal of a Notice of Electronic Filing to the following CM/ECF registrants: Paul
15 Cambria, James Grant, Robert Corn-Revere, Ronald London, Larry Debus, Lawrence
Kazan, Gregory Zamora, Cristina Arguedas, Ted Cassman, Bruce Feder, Michael Kimerer,
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Michael Piccarreta, Stephen Weiss. I further certify that, on this date, I served a copy of
17 this pleading (via email) on the following attorney who is not yet registered in the CM/ECF
18 system: KC Maxwell.
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 Case 2:18-cr-00422-SPL Document 64-1 Filed 04/13/18 Page 1 of 2

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6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA
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9 United States of America, CR-18-00422-PHX-SPL (BSB)
10 Plaintiff, ORDER
11 vs.
1. Michael Lacey
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2. James Larkin
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3. Scott Spear
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4. John “Jed” Brunst
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5. Dan Hyer
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6. Andrew Padilla
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7. Joye Vaught
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Defendants.
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Having reviewed the United States’ Unopposed Motion to Designate Case
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Complex, Continue the Trial Date, and set a Status Conference, and good cause appearing,
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IT IS ORDERED designating the case as complex,
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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED setting a status conference for _______, 2018,
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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the parties prior to the status conference submit
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a joint proposed case management schedule no later than _______, 2018.
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IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that excludable delay under 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h) is
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found to commence from __________ through __________.
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 Case 2:18-cr-00422-SPL Document 64-1 Filed 04/13/18 Page 2 of 2

1 DATED this day of , 2018.

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3 HONORABLE STEVEN P. LOGAN
United States District Court Judge
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