Escort Services, Prostitution and Unlicensed Massage

Know Your Rights…Know The Law

While escort services and Prostitution has flourished with the growth of the internet, Prostitution and related crimes have been around for centuries before the dawn of the computer. You don’t have to look very far to see that law enforcement, the NYPD, local prosecutors, the FBI and the United States Attorney’s Office, aggressively investigates and prosecutes Prostitution and associated offenses. From federal agents executing search warrants on Eros.Com’s home base in North Carolina to the shuttering of personals on Craigslist and the shutting down of sex advertisements on Backpage, law enforcement has been relentless, prosecutors busy and criminal defense lawyers’ hands full. As a result of this full press, johns, pimps, madams, organize crime, independent escorts, every person involved in alleged Prostitution related schemes is exposed to an assortment of crimes. Not only that, lives and families are devastated as loved ones are incarcerated or humiliated. Just ask Eliot Spitzer.

At a minimum, those involved in the Prostitution, “Johns,” madams, prostitutes, pimps, call girls, phone operators, money collectors and anyone else who sets up, establishes, or assists in this service or criminal enterprise may be charged with one or more of the following crimes due to their direct involvement or because of their actions as an accomplice:

• Prostitution: NY Penal Law 230.00
• Patronizing a Prostitute: NY Penal Law 230.04
• Promoting Prostitution: NY Penal Law 230.20 through 230.32
• Compelling Prostitution: NY Penal Law 230.33
• Sex Trafficking: NY Penal Law 230.34
• Permitting Prostitution: NY Penal Law 230.40
• Unlicensed Massage: NY Education Law 6512

The above-mentioned crimes range from a “B” misdemeanor, punishable by up to 90 days in jail, to a “B” felony, punishable by up to 25 years in state prison. While each of the crimes directly related to Prostitution may be apparent if you are involved in “merely” a street level offense, the more complex, sophisticated or involved the organization, the greater the likelihood that the District Attorney of Manhattan, Brooklyn (Kings County), Queens and the Bronx or the New York State Attorney General will charge other offenses or present the same to a Grand Jury. These crimes range from an “A” misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, to a “B” felony and have equal and greater penalties than the underlying Prostitution crimes a defendant faces. These crimes can include:

• Enterprise Corruption: NY Penal Law 460.20
• Money Laundering: NY Penal Law Article 470
• Falsifying Business Records: NY Penal Law Article 175

Regardless of your level of involvement in a Prostitution related offense or the magnitude of the organization you are alleged to be involved in, not taking the charges seriously or retaining an inexperienced attorney can magnify your problems considerably. Certainly, you can stick to your belief that crimes associated with Prostitution are victimless offenses occurring between consensual adults, but in doing so your defense will fail, cavalier attitude will destroy your credibility, and you will find yourself on the short end of the law enforcement stuck.

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When you are investigated for or accused of any Prostitution or collateral crime, know that there is no substitute for knowledge, experience and advocacy. The Law Office of Saland Law, founded by two former prosecutor who served under Robert Morgenthau in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, is not only ready to aggressively fight on your behalf, but is available day or night and whenever you face an arrest or law enforcement inquiry.

Call the Prostitution and Escort crimes defense lawyers and former prosecutors at (212) 312-7129 or contact us online today.