Exhibit “B”

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DECLARATION OF TONI THOMAS IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANTS’ OPPOSITION TO 

MOTION IN LIMINE TO ADMIT EVIDENCE

DECLARATION OF TONI THOMAS

I, Toni Thomas, declare as follows:

1. I am a paralegal with the firm of Bienert | Katzman PC, counsel for Defendant

James Larkin in this action. I make this limited declaration based on personal knowledge and am 

competent to testify to the matters stated herein.

2. On May 21, 2020, I participated in an approximately 50-minute meet and confer

call regarding the government’s Motion in Limine to Determine Admissibility of Certain Evidence

Dkt. 931. 

3. Call participants for the government were Assistant United States Attorneys

Reggie Jones and Kevin Rapp. 

4. Call participants for the defense were attorneys Whitney Z. Bernstein, Erin M.

Paris, Ariel Neuman, Gopi Panchapakesan, Bruce Feder, David Eisenberg, and Joy Bertrand. 

5. Prior to the call on May 13, 2020, Gopi Panchapakesan sent an email to Reggie

Jones, copying all defense counsel and government attorneys. A true and correct copy of this email 

appears in Dkt. 977-1.

6. On Wednesday May 20, 2020, Reggie Jones replied to Gopi Panchapakesan’s

email copying all defense counsel and government attorneys. A true and correct copy of this email 

appears in Dkt. 977-1. 

7. The bullet points of issues/questions and answers provided by the government

from the May 13, 2020 and May 20, 2020 emails were the guide for the clarification questions 

posed by defense counsel on the call. 

8. Defense counsel asked the government to identify the Defendants against whom

each exhibit identified in its chart (Exhibit A at Dkt. 931-1) applied and was admissible. For 

example, which Defendant(s) the government believed a party agent’s statement could be 

attributed against and which Defendant(s) the government believed adopted a given statement. 

The government refused to identify the Defendants for whom it contends each of the exhibits 

apply, and said that each exhibit is admissible and relevant to all Defendants. 

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DECLARATION OF TONI THOMAS IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANTS’ OPPOSITION TO 

MOTION IN LIMINE TO ADMIT EVIDENCE

9. Defense counsel asked the government to identify all members of the conspiracy so

counsel could assess the government’s contention that various exhibits were admissible as a 

coconspirator statement. The government answered that the conspiracy members include all 

named Defendants, cooperators Ferrer and Hyer, David Elms, William Mersey, and “every 

prostitute or pimp” who emailed Backpage between 2004 and 2018. 

10. Defense counsel asked the government to provide the underlying documentation

that its summary exhibits purported to summarize as revenue from 2013-2015. Counsel explained 

that they could not evaluate the summary exhibit without the underlying records. The government 

stated that information was acquired from tax returns obtained in February of 2019 but reiterated 

its position asserted its February 2019 letter that the government refuses to provide those records. 

The government repeatedly said that it would not provide these underlying records and that 

defense counsel should raise the matter with the Court. 

I declare under penalty of perjury of the laws of the United States of America that the 

foregoing is true and correct. 

Executed this 31st day of March 2021, at San Clemente, California. 

s/ Toni Thomas 

Toni Thomas

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