A former advisor to ex-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was arrested as an alleged “john” during a statewide trafficking crackdown in California.
Daniel Pellissier, who served as one of the advisors during Schwarzenegger’s term as California Governor from 2003 to 2011, has been one of the four men arrested on suspicion of human trafficking and soliciting prostitution.
Citrus Heights Police in Sacramento County carried out the arrest during its massive, three-day crackdown in the state, titled Operation Reclaim and Rebuild. Besides Pellissier and three other men accused of taking advantage of trafficking victims, the police arrested five hundred other people.
This marks one of the largest trafficking crackdowns in California history, our Los Angeles prostitution attorney at Okabe & Haushalter notes. Among the five hundred people arrested for prostitution-related offenses, 30 were suspected traffickers and 178 were “johns.”
The term “john” refers to a prostitute’s client and is used in order to maintain the anonymity of the suspects. It’s clear from Pellissier’s arrest that police officers and law enforcement officials don’t think twice before taking suspects into custody on prostitution-related offenses.
That means the risk of being wrongfully accused of prostitution is extremely high, and the importance of having the best prostitution attorney in Los Angeles by your side cannot be ignored.
Pellissier was an adviser to actor-turned-politician Schwarzenegger. The married father of a daughter served as deputy secretary for energy and environment. Also, Schwarzenegger’s former advisor has most recently served as President of California Pension Reform.
Pellissier was taken into custody as one of the johns as part of the crackdown. Commenting on its massive crackdown across the state, the CPHD said it used “various tactics” to identify and arrest both pimps and johns and rescue the victims of human trafficking.
Investigators admitted to using the Internet as part of their efforts to identify suspects. Attorneys have questioned the accuracy of the tactics employed by the police to identify suspects via the Internet for years, for all the right reasons.
If you’ve been arrested on suspicion of prostitution-related offenses in Los Angeles or elsewhere in the state, you may want to know that penalties for prostitution charges in California are rather severe.
That’s why most victims of wrongful arrest choose to hire a Los Angeles prostitution attorney before speaking to the police or the prosecutor. Whether you’ve been arrested as the “prostitute,” the person accepting money in exchange for sexual favors, or the “John,” the person offering money in exchange for sexual acts, you may face criminal charges unless you’re legally represented.
Prostitution lawyers in Los Angeles here at Okabe & Haushalter, a reputable California-based law firm defending the arrested and protecting their civil rights, can help you avoid punishment for a prostitution-related offense or reduce the severity of the charges, depending on your particular case.
If it’s your first prostitution or solicitation-related offense, a Los Angeles prostitution lawyer can help you downgrade the charges to a misdemeanor. In that case, the maximum prison sentence will be 12 months in the county jail.
If you have prior prostitution convictions on your record, things get more complicated. Having more than one prior conviction may lead to a mandatory term of imprisonment of 90 days.
Have you been arrested for prostitution or solicitation-related offense in Los Angeles? Don’t hesitate to speak to an attorney right away to know your best course of action. Protect your rights and fight for your freedom by calling at 310-430-7799 or complete this contact form to get a free consultation.
