Felony Solicitation of Prostitution Reduced to Pandering with Probation and 15 Days in Jail – State v. Mr. M (DMC No. 11964) (Maricopa County Superior Court CR2013-457971):
Mr. M was on a local website and was engaged in a conversation with an undercover Officer posing as a prostitute. She informed him that she was “almost 17”, and that her fake ID wouldn’t get her cigarettes. They negotiated various sex acts and he was to bring the cigarettes to a local motel. Once he got there, he had a conversation with the undercover Agent and put a $100 cash on the night stand and indicated the sex acts that he wanted. Undercover Officers then entered the room and placed him under arrest.
Due to the fact that the Detective was actually 29 years old, and looked 29 years old when he walked into the hotel room, we were able to show that he did not believe the person was actually 16 years old. It was his intent to turn around and walk out of the room if the prostitute actually looked under age. We demonstrated that it is common for prostitutes to understate their age in order to attract younger men. In addition, the fact that she was posing as a prostitute on the website “backpage.com”, it did not appear that the police had entirely clean hands in the matter. Ultimately, we secured an offer to Pandering with 15 days in jail. Originally, Mr. M was facing 7 to 21 years in prison.