(AP) - California Attorney General Kamala Harris is filing new charges against the operators of a website advertising escort services, two weeks after a judge threw out an earlier case.
Harris said Friday she's charged Backpage.com executives Carl Ferrer, Michael Lacey and James Larkin with 26 counts of money laundering. They're also charged with 13 counts of pimping and conspiracy to commit pimping.
Harris claims Backpage.com illegally funneled money through multiple companies and created various websites to get around banks that refused to process transactions.
A Sacramento County judge threw out pimping charges against the men on Dec. 9, citing federal free speech laws.
Harris says the new charges are based on new evidence.
Attorneys for Ferrer, Lacey and Larkin didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
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