Hi guys,

I was arrested recently for soliciting prostitution at an LA area hotel.  Guys be carefull!! (times have changed)

This is the first offense for me.  Can anyone recommend a lawyer who specializes in this area.  Do I even need a lawyer?  One of the vice cops said I can work this misdemeanor off my record possibly if I go thru a one of those rehab seminars and pay the fine. Are first offenders given any breaks?  Any advice or guidance you can provide will be most helpful.  

Sorry to spoil the party,

Best,
Sinbad1000

END OF MESSAGE

If you don't know where to turn, contact the local bar association and tell them your predicament and they will give you a list of lawyers who specialize in this kind of work.

Never take the word of LE for anything.  Their goal is to get you in as much trouble as they can.

Could you, for the sake of educating the readers here, give a little play by play on how this happened?

For example, was it a police sting at a motel with a gal without any reviews posing as a provider but actually undercover?

Or was it something more nefarious that we have not encountered before?

Sorry for your arrest, but at least it won't be a total loss if we all learn something.

(still not a lawyer)

The bust was at a hotel.  The person was posting on backpage.  I called at 3:30pm and we talked about my coming over to the hotel.  I said maybe later at 7 or 8pm and that I would call her on my way over.  After the call ended, I thought this whole thing was stupid and forgot about the whole thing.  At 7:30pmish, she callled me and enticed me to come over so I did.  It was a sting.  What was odd was that after I was arrested, I was put in handcuffs for a few minutes.  They gave me a ticket to appear in court and let me go.  They did not even read me  my miranda rights!

If I am convicted, what is the tipical punishment for a first time offefnder?

Thanks,
Sinba1000

but if you got a ticket, it's safe to say that you won't see jail time.

The bigger hassle is publicity.  Many newspapers publish names of Johns who got stung, and this could easily get you in trouble at home and at work.

In any case, this is why you ought to contact a lawyer.  They can be very adept at times to make these things go away.

I have to presume this BP gal had no reviews.  Placing a warning on your local board about her would be very neighborly of you too.

I wonder if a lawyer could use the fact that she contacted you to come over to argue that it was entrapment.

(still not a lawyer)

 State law varies, but I checked the DOJ website regarding Entrapment:

****  'Even if inducement has been shown, a finding of predisposition is fatal to an entrapment defense. The predisposition inquiry focuses upon whether the defendant "was an unwary innocent or, instead, an unwary criminal who readily availed himself of the opportunity to perpetrate the crime." Mathews, 485 U.S. at 63.' ****

Zangari again: Since the OP made initial contact, I think that's "predisposition" & wave goodbye to your entrapment defense.  I think most state laws dovetail closely to the fed guidelines.  I hate to say it, but they've got him.  I'm sure that while these fucking cops were busting the OP, across town someone was murdered--and there wasn't a cop in sight.  --

Thanks for the feedback.   I agree, any fine is no problem but the embarrasment and shame is what concerns me if someone comes across this on the internet.  Also I wonder if a potential employer would deny me a job because of a misdemeanor soliciting prostitution offense.  This is my only blemish on a spotless record.  

I will contact a lawyer and let you know how my case goes.  Maybe I can get a plea bargain.  I just want to put this behind me and get on with it.

Best,
Sinbad1000

I had a tele call with a lawyer referred to me by the LA Bar Asso.  He offered to take my case for $1,500 and said I have a real good chance of getting my record wiped clean since this is my first offense.  I will have to spend $600 to take a diversion course and take an HIV test.  He said for the $1,500 he will represent me in court and I don't even have to go to court.  

Do I really need to shell out this $1,500 for a lawyer?  I'm thinking I can go to court myself, plea no contest, and take the outcome would be the same since I have a clean record.  

Best
Sinba

END OF MESSAGE

I agree.

$1,500 is a small price to pay for a clean record.

As others have posted, this is NOT the time to be cheap, or thrifty, or frugal!!  With computerized record-keeping, a prostitution conviction like this can wind up haunting you for years to come...

An experienced criminal defense attorney can make this event nothing more than a "bad memory" for you. However, you simply must pay the atty for his/her time & effort.  It's amazing how motivated attorneys can become on your behalf when well-compensated. Spend the $$$; you'll be glad you did.

Chances are, you'll go to court, and the charges will be waived if you agree to take a class and possibly pay a fine.

If it's your first offense, first time arrested, etc

Thank you, everybody, for your feedback.  This is all really insane; only in the good old USA can you find your reputation, professional life, family life, etc., destroyed for simply "soliciting prostitution".  (The wreird thing is that I was more interested in a tantric type massage than anything else)

I settled on a lawyer for $1,750 who plans to enter a not guiltly plea for me at the arraignment.  He seems to know what he is doing.  He asked me to prepare a narrative on what transpired and also a bio.  He said I might have a chance of getting away with a not guity verdict since there was no exchange of money.  The "hooker" simply asked (in a parking lot) if I wanted FS for $XXX.  I said yes and she asked me if I had the money and I said yes, but did not give her any money.   I was busted in the lot.  

This is my first offense, arrest, complaint or anything else.  I have a perfect record and would like to keep it that way when I go to my grave someday.   The lawyer said maybe the charge can also be reduced to treaspassing or moral turpitude.  One question I do have for you all is maybe offering an incentive to the lawyer - I will give him an additional $500 if he can get me out of this on a not guilty verdict.  Do you think the lawyer would take offense to this if I offered him this incentive?

Thanks agai

Without the lawyer, if you ever have another brush with the law you might not be going in with a clean record the next time.

Consider your clean record as a kind of "get out of jail free" card that you can use only once. Isn't it worth the fifteen hundred bucks not to spend that card today, and save it for a rainy day?

No need to offer an incentive.  He is already obligated to do his very best.

If he gets you out of it, ask him what he drinks and buy him an expensive bottle.  He'll appreciate it.

My attorney reviewed my case and police transcript and said we should go to trial, since this whole case hinges on what is meant by "full service".  Since I can claim what FS is to me is not what the LE escort thought.  Anyway he thinks it worth a try.  FYI, this is my first arrest for soliciting prostitution or anything else.

I have a question.  When someone searches my name in Yahoo,  arrest record ads pop up stating to take a look at my arrest record (it gives my name).  This is bad news.  Is this something I have to live with the rest of my life, or does this go away over time.  Anything I can do from my end to remedy situation?

Thank you

i do search keyword "prostitution" from time to time.  Maybe yahoo search is reading our cookies. [I'm not a tecki]

The arrest record ads you see now may have been there all along.  Maybe you did not notice them before.

Sorry to hear about your situation.  Thank you for sharing details.  I have gained insight to help me be better aware.

There are currently rumors of LE and Homeland Security working a sting in the Boston area.  DHS are all sucky scumbags in my opinion.  But they are a bottomless pit of funding, which is what makes them so dangerous.