The Federal government says Google CEO Larry Page, knowingly allowed his company to run ads for an illegal Mexican drug company.
"We simply know from the documents we reviewed and witnesses we interviewed that Larry Page knew what was going on," U.S. attorney Peter Neronha told the Wall Street Journal.
The Feds used a convicted con artist to take part in a sting operation, that cost the government $200,000.
Over four months in 2009, David Whitaker, a federal prisoner and convicted con artist, helped the government target Google Inc.
According to the WSJ article,
"He walked Google executives through the illegal parts of the websites," adding, "He said he told ad executives that U.S. Customs had seized shipments, for example, and that one client wanted to be 'the biggest steroid dealer in the United States.'"
In the end Google settled for around $500 million in federal charges that it knowingly assisted narcotics trafficking.
