A solicitation charge is a criminal accusation that you asked, encouraged, or pressured another person to commit a crime. What makes it unusual is the timing: the offense is complete the moment the request is made. The other person does not have to agree, act on it, or even respond. Prosecutors treat the communication itself as the criminal act, which is why solicitation can be charged for anything from a street-level prostitution offer to hiring a hitman.
What Prosecutors Have to Prove
A solicitation case comes down to two elements: what you intended and what you communicated.
The first is intent. The prosecution has to show you genuinely wanted the other person to carry out the crime. Sarcasm, dark humor, and vague venting (“somebody should teach him a lesson”) do not meet this bar. The intent has to be specific and sincere. If the allegation is that you asked someone to burn down a building, the government must prove you actually wanted that building burned, not that you were blowing off steam.
The second is the act of asking. You must have communicated the request through words, texts, emails, gestures, or any other means. That communication completes the crime. Even if the person you approached refused on the spot, laughed, or walked straight to the police, the offense has already occurred. Their reaction is legally irrelevant to your guilt.
Why the Other Person’s Response Doesn’t Change the Charge
This is where solicitation cases often feel unfair to defendants. No one was hurt. No crime was attempted. The person you spoke to may have refused immediately. But the law treats the request itself as dangerous enough to punish, on the theory that once you try to recruit someone into a crime, you have set forces in motion you cannot fully control.
The practical effect is that undercover stings work especially well against solicitation charges. An officer only needs to receive the request; they never have to pretend to go through with anything.
How Solicitation Differs From Conspiracy and Attempt
Solicitation is one of three “inchoate” offenses, meaning crimes aimed at criminal conduct before anyone is harmed. The other two are conspiracy and attempt, and the lines between them matter.
Conspiracy requires a mutual agreement between two or more people to commit a crime together. Solicitation only requires a one-sided request. If you ask someone to rob a store and they say yes, you may both face conspiracy. If they say no, solicitation still sticks but conspiracy drops out.
Attempt requires a substantial step toward actually carrying out the crime. Attempted robbery means casing the store, acquiring a weapon, driving to the location. Solicitation has no such requirement. The words alone are enough.
Common Types of Solicitation Charges and Their Penalties
Solicitation can technically attach to any crime, and penalties scale with whatever crime was requested. Some states punish solicitation at the same level as the underlying offense. Others grade it one level below. Federal law caps the penalty at half the maximum sentence for the solicited crime.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 373 – Solicitation to Commit a Crime of Violence A handful of categories account for most prosecutions.
Solicitation of Prostitution
This is the most commonly prosecuted form. The charge applies when someone offers or agrees to exchange money or anything of value for a sexual act, and either side of the transaction can be charged. The negotiation is the crime. First-offense fines typically range from $1,000 to $10,000 depending on jurisdiction, with steeper penalties for repeat offenses. First offenses are usually misdemeanors carrying possible county jail time.
Solicitation of a Minor
Soliciting anyone under 18 for sexual activity is treated far more harshly. Federal law makes it a crime to use any means of interstate communication to persuade, entice, or coerce a minor into sexual activity, with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum of life.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 2422 – Coercion and Enticement The charge applies even when the “minor” is an undercover officer. The federal sex trafficking statute carries similarly severe penalties, with a mandatory minimum of 15 years when force or fraud is involved, or when the victim is under 14.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 1591 – Sex Trafficking of Children or by Force, Fraud, or Coercion
Solicitation of Violent Crimes
Asking someone to commit assault, robbery, arson, or murder is a federal crime when it involves a felony that includes the use or threat of physical force. The federal penalty is up to half the maximum prison sentence for the crime requested. When the solicited crime is punishable by life imprisonment or death, the solicitor faces up to 20 years.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S.C. 373 – Solicitation to Commit a Crime of Violence Soliciting murder, in other words, does not itself carry a life sentence under this federal statute, though two decades is still on the table. States set their own penalties and some match them to the underlying crime.
Defenses That Can Defeat the Charge
Solicitation charges are not automatic convictions. Several defenses can defeat or weaken the prosecution’s case.
Lack of Genuine Intent
Because specific intent is required, anything that undermines the sincerity of the request is a defense. A clear joke, a statement made in anger with no serious purpose, or language too vague to request a specific crime can all fail the intent test. This defense is strongest when there is no follow-up conduct, like discussing payment, logistics, or timing, that would suggest you meant what you said.
Entrapment
Entrapment is the most common defense in sting cases. Under the federal standard set in Jacobson v. United States, once a defendant raises entrapment, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was predisposed to commit the crime before law enforcement made contact.4Legal Information Institute. Jacobson v. United States, 503 U.S. 540 (1992) The Court held that government agents “may not originate a criminal design, implant in an innocent person’s mind the disposition to commit a criminal act, and then induce commission of the crime so that the Government may prosecute.”
In practice, the defense is hard to win. Prosecutors will point to behavior during the sting, prior criminal history, and evidence like internet search history to show predisposition. It can succeed when the record shows that law enforcement was unusually aggressive, made repeated contact despite reluctance, or offered inducements that would tempt someone with no prior interest in the crime.
Renunciation
Some jurisdictions recognize a renunciation defense when the solicitor has a genuine change of heart and takes concrete steps to prevent the crime. Deciding not to follow through is not enough. To qualify, the defendant typically must persuade the other person not to commit the offense, or otherwise prevent it, demonstrating a complete and voluntary abandonment of the criminal purpose. Not every state recognizes the defense, and where it exists the requirements are strict.
Consequences Beyond the Sentence
The criminal sentence is often just the beginning. A solicitation conviction carries collateral consequences that outlast any jail or prison term.
A permanent record affects employment, housing, and professional licensing. Nursing, teaching, law, and medicine typically require disclosure of all convictions, including those that have been expunged. A board that considers the conviction related to the profession can suspend or revoke the license.
For sexual solicitation offenses, sex offender registration is the most significant long-term consequence. Under the federal SORNA framework, offenses like soliciting a minor for prostitution or enticement of a minor fall under Tier II, which requires 25 years of registration.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 34 U.S.C. 20911 – Relevant Definitions, Including Amie Zyla Expansion of Sex Offender Definition and National Sex Offender Registry More severe offenses involving force or very young victims can reach Tier III, which requires lifetime registration. Registration brings residency restrictions, regular check-ins with law enforcement, and public listing on sex offender databases, and the obligations follow you across state lines.
Immigration consequences can be just as severe. Many solicitation offenses qualify as crimes involving moral turpitude or aggravated felonies under federal immigration law, which can trigger deportation or permanent inadmissibility for non-citizens.
If the Solicited Crime Actually Happened
When the person you solicited actually commits the crime, the solicitation charge usually merges into the completed offense. You would be charged as an accomplice to the crime itself rather than facing a separate solicitation count. The merger principle applies to solicitation and attempt but not to conspiracy. If two people agreed to commit a crime and then carried it out, both the conspiracy and the completed offense can be charged.
The practical takeaway is that solicitation tends to be charged when the underlying crime never happened. It is the mechanism that lets prosecutors hold someone accountable for trying to set a crime in motion, even when no one was ultimately harmed.