The state of Florida classifies solicitation as a misdemeanor for first-time offenders. While solicitation is most often associated with prostitution, the legal definition is broader, encompassing a range of situations where one individual or party strongly encourages another individual or party to engage in a criminal act.
Criminal solicitation in Brevard County is most commonly charged for those individuals soliciting acts surrounding drugs and prostitution, however, this charge may also apply to situations such as a public official soliciting a bribe.
You may be charged and/or convicted of solicitation if you are found to have intentionally, advised, enticed, incited, ordered, or otherwise strongly encouraged another person to commit a crime in Cocoa Beach or other cities throughout Florida.
Of importance is that the crime itself needs NOT be committed in order for a crime of solicitation to have occurred. Also of importance is that the act of solicitation itself is NOT a crime. For example, an individual may solicit investment in a business idea, well within the bounds of the law.
Those convicted of criminal solicitation face a wide range of penalties including the potential for expensive fines, lengthy probation, and jail time.
