Solicitation is asking someone to do something illegal, and can include asking someone to participate in criminal acts, illegal businesses, or influencing government officials. Even if the crime is not committed, solicitation can result in criminal charges. The severity of the charges depends on the act solicited and regional laws. Prostitution is just one example of solicitation. The legal consequences are complicated when a crime is not committed, as there must be evidence of intent.
Solicitation is asking someone to do something, or begging or pleading with someone to do it, but in a legal sense, request is to do something criminal. There are many ways a person can solicit someone else to commit a criminal act or get a person to participate in something illegal. This distinction is important because a solicited person need not commit a crime, but may be required to participate in something criminal.
Many people also think of prostitution as the only example of illegal solicitation, since a prostitute who enjoins someone else to trade sex for money usually faces this charge, if caught. This is just one example of the ways people can solicit, and it’s helpful to note that soliciting is often enough to warrant criminal charges. It is not necessary that a crime be committed for someone to be prosecuted for this crime.
It is difficult to list all types of solicitation. People may ask others to commit criminal acts such as buying drugs, robbing a store, or hitting someone else. In companies, it is often illegal to solicit shareholder votes on particular issues, and any attempt to influence government officials such as police officers or court members to change their minds can also be a felony.
An invitation to enter into illegally structured businesses is another form of solicitation. For example, asking someone to invest money in a Ponzi scheme or to be part of a pyramid scheme is solicitation, and people who are mere “sellers” for these illegal ventures could still go to jail for begging others to join. Whether or not the person questioned knows they are being solicited to participate in something illegal doesn’t matter because investigations tend to focus more on the solicitor: the person who knew he was soliciting others to take part in something illegal.
How the courts treat the solicitation depends on the acts solicited and regional laws, and these acts must not have occurred. Many illegal financial schemes are discovered when people become suspicious of their intentions and report the matter, and any vendor involved would technically be guilty of soliciting every single person they contacted, not just those they convinced to join. Similarly, a prostitute could ask a plainclothes policeman to exchange sexual favors for money and she could be charged with soliciting even if no exchange took place.
In minor offenses, the charges could be misdemeanor-level. Attempts to solicit into committing serious crimes, such as murder for hire, could be felonies. If an actual crime has been committed, courts often treat the lawyer as if he had committed the crime.
The legal consequences are complicated when a crime is not committed. There must be evidence, in many cases, that a person really intended to commit the crime. Allegations of solicitation can only be successful if it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the person intended the crime to occur when he asked someone else to do it.
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