DON'T GO AGENCY.. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE ASK. TIMES MIGHT BE HARD RIGHT NOW FOR YOU BUT IT WILL BE EVEN HARDER IN THE LONG RUN IF YOU GO AGENCY.

There is no legal difference as to the client's potential criminal liability if he does the same thing with an agency or independent.

In fact, putting aside other aspects of the question, if you are busted and want to work a deal, the police are more likely to be interested in going after an agency than an independent person, as the agency is an enterprise committing numerous crimes.  This means that they may be more willing to give a break to the client who wants to rat out on an agency than an independent.

You have to start by specifying your state since state laws differ.

But if a lady is convicted of state law solicitation or prostitution for the first time, in most if not all states the crime is designated a misdemeanor regardless of whether the lady works as an independent or for an agency. Some states raise the charge to a felony if the lady has three prior convictions but again this is true regardless of whether agency or independent.

While the misdemeanor/felony distinction thus is not implicated by the decision to work for an agency it is probably fair to say that working for an agency puts a lady at an increased risk bc LE is far more interested in prosecuting agencies and their employees than independants, bc working for an agency opens the door to conspiracy charges, and most damning of all, because some agenceis engage in money laundering and interstate travel activities which are felonies. When they bust the agency the employees usually go down with them or are forced to testify with immunity.

So far better to be an independent in terms of criminal exposure.

Release the caps key and calm down a little.  There are good agencies and bad out there. Plenty of women do very well working for reputable agencies and stay completely safe.  

This is not a question with a black and white answer. As with most things in life their are variable involved and only time, research and experience can determine what will work best for you.

I will say this. A good agency owner is not a pimp and will never act like one.  If you find yourself being treated with anything less than total respect and full regard for your safety and security then get out.

I agree with you but, just an FYI, the OP is not a client. She is a provider.

-- Modified on 12/27/2008 5:22:13 AM

One of the hazards about asking for legal advice on a public forum is "free advice" is often not even worth the zero dollars you pay for it.

There are upsides and downsides to the agency/indy quandry. There is no universal answer. A good agency will do your screening for you and make you the safer for it. Some bad agencies do little or no screening and raise your risk instead.

Two things I might suggest are to post this on the provider board and start posting on your local board. The local members of your TER city will almost certainly know your agency by reputation and can give you more guidance than a national board.

Good luck and stay safe.

One other word of advice. Don't listen to any idiot on the internet who doesn't even know how to use the shift key.

I'm not sure how up-to-date it is, but is a list of the potential penalties by state.

Good luck, and play safe,

jazz32

There are other issues involved with independent vs. agency.  LE likes to get the biggest splash they can for their effort.  What does not make the papers is busting Miss. Independent Provider.  What does get lots of press play (and thus a better chance for a bigger budget) is rolling up an entire agency.  Remember the "socker mom prostitutes" a few years ago?  

When an agency is taken down, LE needs to go for felony convictions.  Otherwise, all their effort and expense is hard to justify.  

Agencies, like any business tend to keep records.  When they are taken down, these records can be used to cause the girls a lot of grief.  Then the IRS can always get involved as there they will have strong evidence of unreported income.  If a girl was involved with Mr. Famous (think Spitzer) than she will have a rather bright and embarrassing spotlight on her.  If she crossed state lines, e.g. Mr. Famous flew her to Vegas for the weekend, there can be more Federal problems.

When an independent is busted, if she hires a smart lawyer there is a good chance of getting the rap bargained down to disorderly conduct.  There may be less of a possibility in an agency take down.

There are risks all around and all actions have consequences -- good ones, bad ones and unknown ones.