Los Angeles Pimping & Pandering Attorney Discusses Human Trafficking Chargers | CBS Law

Charged with pimping or pandering in Los Angeles? These are serious felony offenses under California law that can carry harsh penalties. Our experienced Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys explain what these charges mean, possible defenses, and how skilled legal representation can help protect your future.

👉 If you’re facing pimping or pandering or human trafficking charges, contact our office today for a confidential consultation.

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Transcript:
Hi, I'm Chris Bou Saeed. I'm a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney who defends people charged with various sex related crimes, including pimping, pandering, and human trafficking. Welcome to CBS Law, where we deliver results, not promises. What I'm going to do is first go over some common charges related to pimping, pandering, human trafficking. go over successful defenses we employ for our clients charged with pimping, pandering, or human trafficking. And I'll go over some common sense measures you can take if you ever find yourself being investigated, charged with, or arrested for pimping, pandering, or human trafficking. First, let's start with pimping. Pimping is a violation of Penal Code section 266H.

What constitutes a violation of pimping is one that someone knew another was performing services as a prostitute and second that that person charged with the crime received proceeds related to the other person's actions as a prostitute. That is a felony crime. It carries with it really severe consequences upon conviction. A low term of three years in state prison, a middle term of six years in state prison, and a high term of eight years in state prison. It's also a strike offense. Now, some successful defenses that we often employ in pimping cases involve one, that there was no prostitution happening, or second, that my client wasn't receiving any proceeds from the prostitution, or third, that there simply was no pimping happening. You know, often in these cases, we have to utilize my investigator to in interview not only the witnesses, the alleged prostitutes, but also the surrounding circumstances regarding the operation related to prostitution that the police say that my client was profiting off of. You know, often times my clients, even if there is a prostitution operation happening, they are low-level or or bit employees, maybe responsible for administrative tasks, so forth and so on. Or in some instances, there isn't some commercial operation of prostitution occurring. rather there's just private arrangements between two individuals who are agreeing to perform whatever actions or whatever that are completely independent of my client. What's really important is that the investigator or expert witnesses we use sometimes cultural or sociological experts are able to show that either my client didn't have knowledge of what was occurring or was completely independent of it and wasn't involved in any exchange of money or benefits for a sex act. When it comes to pandering, pandering is a little bit different. It's a violation of Penal Code section 266I. And what it involves that's a felony is that someone persuaded another either through fraud, deceit, force, fear, coercion to act as a prostitute. that they intended for the other person to act as a prostitute and they received proceeds from the prostitution. Similar to pimping, oftentimes clients are completely independent of any type of private arrangement between individuals or are just administrative bit players at a larger establishment, whether it be a bar or a restaurant. and they simply had no knowledge of what was occurring behind closed doors or between two private individuals or there was no persuasion. There was no force or fear or coercion or duress but rather is just completely consensual behavior completely independent of my clients in regards to the consequences for pandering. Similar to pimping, it is a felony offense where upon conviction, the low term is three years in state prison, the middle term is six years in state prison, and the high term is eight years in state prison. Now, I'd like to talk to you about human trafficking. If you're under investigation, charged with or have been arrested for human trafficking, that's a violation of Penal Code section 236.1. The consequences of human trafficking are enormous. Upon conviction, the low term is 8 years of state prison, the middle term is 14 years of state prison, and the high term is 20 years of state prison. How someone violates penal code section 236.1 human trafficking is first that someone deprived the liberty of another. In other words, using force or fear or a threat or coercion overwhelmed the other person's free will. Second, that the person intended the victim to commit an act of prostitution. Often what we see in these cases are our