Solicitation to Commit Crime Lawyers (PC 653f)

A single conversation, one text message, or a moment of frustration recorded at the wrong time. That’s how solicitation charges under Penal Code 653f begin for many people who never imagined facing a felony.

Most people assume you have to actually commit a crime to be charged with one. California’s solicitation statute flips that assumption on its head. Under Penal Code 653f, simply asking another person to commit certain serious offenses is itself a crime, even if the other person refuses, even if no one lifts a finger to carry out the plan. Prosecutors in the Bay Area take these charges seriously, and the consequences for a conviction can follow you for years.

Understanding what the prosecution actually needs to prove, and where their case is vulnerable, is the first step toward building an effective defense. Our team at The Nieves Law Firm Criminal Defense Attorneys has defended clients across Alameda County and the greater Bay Area against solicitation charges ranging from alleged property crimes to the most serious accusations. As part of our practice handling other criminal charges in the Bay Area, we know how these cases are built, and we know how to challenge them.

If you’re facing a solicitation charge, contact our team today for a consultation. The earlier you involve a defense attorney, the more options you’ll have.

What Penal Code 653f Actually Prohibits

Penal Code 653f does not make it illegal to solicit just any crime. The statute lists specific offenses that trigger criminal liability when someone requests, urges, or commands another person to commit them. This distinction matters because the prosecution must connect the alleged solicitation to one of the enumerated crimes.

The statute is divided into several subsections, each covering different categories of solicited offenses with different penalties:

Subsection (a) covers solicitation to commit crimes including murder, robbery, burglary, grand theft, receiving stolen property, extortion, perjury, subornation of perjury, forgery, kidnapping, arson, or assault with a deadly weapon. This is the broadest subsection and the only one classified as a wobbler, meaning prosecutors can file it as either a misdemeanor or a felony.¹

Subsection (b) targets solicitation to commit forcible sex offenses, including rape by force, sodomy by force, oral copulation by force, or sexual penetration by force. This is a straight felony carrying two, three, or four years in state prison.²

Subsection (c) specifically addresses solicitation to commit murder. This is a felony punishable by three, six, or nine years in state prison, and it carries the most severe collateral consequences of any subsection.³

Subsections (d) and (e) cover solicitation to commit specified child sex offenses and certain kidnapping offenses, respectively, each carrying their own felony penalties.⁴

The critical thing to understand is that the solicited crime never has to happen. The charge is complete the moment the request is made and received, assuming the prosecution can prove genuine criminal intent behind the words.

How Prosecutors Build a Solicitation Case

To secure a conviction under PC 653f, the prosecution must establish each of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

The defendant requested another person to commit a specific enumerated crime

This means the prosecution must show you actually asked, urged, encouraged, or commanded someone to commit one of the crimes listed in the statute. General complaints, venting, or expressions of anger are not enough. The request must be directed at a specific person and must identify a specific criminal act. Prosecutors typically rely on recorded conversations, text messages, emails, or witness testimony to establish this element.

The defendant had the specific intent that the crime be committed

This is where many solicitation cases are won or lost. It is not enough that you said the words. The prosecution must prove you genuinely wanted the other person to carry out the crime. Sarcasm, hyperbole, emotional outbursts during arguments, and dark humor all produce statements that can sound incriminating when taken out of context. A skilled defense attorney will force the prosecution to prove intent beyond the bare words themselves.

The other person received the communication

The solicitation must actually reach the intended recipient. If a letter was intercepted, a message was never delivered, or the communication was blocked before receipt, the prosecution faces a significant hurdle. This element becomes particularly important in cases involving electronic communications where delivery can be verified or disputed through digital records.

Penalties and Sentencing

Sentence enhancements can significantly increase these terms. If the solicitation was committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang, an enhancement under Penal Code 186.22(b) may add years to the sentence.⁵ Prior strike convictions can double the base term or trigger a 25-years-to-life sentence under California’s Three Strikes law.⁶

The Wobbler Advantage Under Subsection (a)

For charges filed under PC 653f(a), the wobbler classification creates a meaningful defense opportunity that many people overlook. A wobbler offense can be charged as either a felony or a misdemeanor, and even after a felony filing, the defense can petition for reduction to a misdemeanor under Penal Code 17(b).⁷

This is one of the most important strategic conversations we have with clients facing subsection (a) charges. The difference between a felony and misdemeanor conviction affects everything: professional licensing, employment background checks, immigration consequences, and firearm rights. For working professionals, the distinction can be career-defining.

Courts consider several factors when deciding whether to reduce a wobbler to a misdemeanor, including the defendant’s criminal history, the specific circumstances of the offense, and whether the solicited crime was actually attempted. When the solicitation involved no violence, no completed crime, and a defendant with no prior record, the case for misdemeanor treatment is strong. Our team regularly advocates for reduction at the preliminary hearing stage, at sentencing, or through post-conviction motions.

Solicitation vs. Conspiracy and the Merger Question

One of the most misunderstood aspects of solicitation law is how it relates to conspiracy charges. The distinction has real consequences for how your case is charged and what penalties you face.

Solicitation is a one-sided act. You ask someone to commit a crime. They don’t need to agree, and nothing else needs to happen. The crime is complete when the request is received with the requisite intent.⁸

Conspiracy under Penal Code 182 requires something more: an agreement between two or more people to commit a crime, plus at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement.⁹ If the person you allegedly solicited agrees to participate, what started as a solicitation case can escalate into a conspiracy charge.

Here’s why this matters from a defense perspective. In many cases, the prosecution will charge both solicitation and conspiracy, hoping to secure a conviction on at least one count. But California courts have recognized that when a solicitation merges into a completed conspiracy, the solicitation charge may be absorbed. Understanding this merger doctrine allows defense counsel to challenge duplicative charging and potentially reduce the number of counts a client faces.

From a practical standpoint, we often see prosecutors use solicitation as a fallback charge. If they can’t prove the agreement element required for conspiracy, they fall back to solicitation, which only requires the request. Knowing this dynamic shapes how we approach plea negotiations and trial strategy.

Defense Strategies for PC 653f Charges

No Genuine Criminal Intent

The single most effective defense in solicitation cases challenges whether the defendant actually intended for the crime to happen. People say things in anger, frustration, and emotional distress that they never mean to be taken literally. A spouse who says “I could kill him” during a bitter divorce is not soliciting murder. A business partner who vents about wanting someone “taken care of” after a financial dispute may be expressing frustration, not criminal intent.

Context is everything. Our defense team examines the full circumstances surrounding the alleged solicitation: the relationship between the parties, the emotional state of the defendant, whether alcohol or substances were involved, and whether any concrete steps were discussed. When the prosecution’s case rests on words alone without corroborating evidence of genuine intent, the case is vulnerable.

Entrapment by Law Enforcement

Solicitation charges frequently arise from sting operations where undercover officers or confidential informants initiate contact and steer conversations toward criminal topics. California law recognizes entrapment as a complete defense when law enforcement conduct would have caused a normally law-abiding person to commit a crime they otherwise would not have committed.¹⁰

The question is not whether the defendant ultimately agreed to the solicitation. The question is whether law enforcement planted the idea and applied pressure that overcame the defendant’s resistance. We have seen cases where informants repeatedly brought up criminal schemes over weeks or months until the defendant finally engaged. That pattern can support an entrapment defense.

Ambiguous or Equivocal Statements

The prosecution must prove the defendant made a clear, unequivocal request for another person to commit a specific enumerated crime. Vague language, coded speech that could have innocent interpretations, or statements that don’t identify a particular crime all create reasonable doubt. If a jury could reasonably interpret the defendant’s words as something other than a genuine solicitation, the prosecution has a problem.

Communication Never Received

If the alleged solicitation never reached the intended recipient, a required element of the offense is missing. This defense applies in situations where messages were intercepted, letters were lost, or electronic communications were blocked before delivery. Digital forensics can sometimes establish that a message was never actually received despite being sent.

Misidentification in Electronic Communications

In an era of spoofed phone numbers, hacked accounts, and anonymous messaging platforms, proving who actually sent a communication is not always straightforward. When the prosecution’s case depends on electronic evidence, challenging the attribution of messages to the defendant can be a viable defense.

First Amendment Considerations

In narrow circumstances, statements that prosecutors characterize as solicitation may actually constitute protected speech, particularly political rhetoric, artistic expression, or advocacy for legal change. While this defense has limited applicability, it becomes relevant in cases involving social media posts, online forums, or political speech that the government interprets as criminal solicitation.

Where Your Case Will Be Heard in the Bay Area

Felony solicitation cases in Alameda County are typically handled at the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse in Oakland, where our headquarters is located at 160 Franklin Street. Our attorneys appear regularly in this courthouse and have working relationships with the judges, prosecutors, and court staff who handle these matters. Cases originating in southern Alameda County may be heard at the Fremont Hall of Justice or Hayward Hall of Justice.

For clients in other Bay Area counties, our offices in Fremont, San Jose, Stockton, Fairfield, and Sacramento allow us to handle solicitation cases across the region. Each county’s District Attorney’s office has its own approach to charging decisions on wobbler offenses, and our familiarity with local practices informs how we negotiate on your behalf.

Collateral Consequences Beyond the Courtroom

Employment and Professional Licensing

A solicitation conviction signals to employers and licensing boards that you were involved in planning criminal activity. For professionals in healthcare, law, education, finance, or government, this can trigger license revocation proceedings or disqualification from employment. Even for those without professional licenses, a felony conviction creates barriers that persist long after the sentence is served.

Immigration Consequences

Solicitation to commit certain offenses may be classified as an aggravated felony or a crime involving moral turpitude under federal immigration law. For non-citizens, this can result in deportation, denial of naturalization, or inadmissibility. If you hold a visa, green card, or are in the process of adjusting your immigration status, the immigration consequences of a solicitation conviction may be more severe than the criminal penalties themselves. Our team works with immigration counsel to evaluate these risks before any plea is entered.

Firearm Rights

A felony solicitation conviction results in a lifetime prohibition on possessing firearms under both California and federal law.¹¹ Even a misdemeanor conviction under subsection (a) may affect firearm rights depending on the underlying offense solicited.

Strike Consequences

Solicitation to commit murder under PC 653f(c) is specifically listed as a serious felony under Penal Code 1192.7(c).¹² This means a conviction counts as a strike under California’s Three Strikes law, which would double the sentence for any future felony conviction and could eventually trigger a 25-years-to-life sentence. Other subsections require individual analysis to determine strike eligibility.

Related Offenses

Why The Nieves Law Firm Takes on Solicitation Cases

Solicitation charges are unlike most criminal cases because the prosecution’s evidence often comes down to words rather than actions. That makes these cases intensely fact-specific, and the difference between a conviction and a dismissal frequently depends on how effectively defense counsel can contextualize what was said and challenge the prosecution’s interpretation.

Our team brings the resources of one of the largest criminal defense practices in the Bay Area to every solicitation case we handle. We work with digital forensics experts to analyze electronic communications, retain investigators to establish context and identify entrapment patterns, and draw on our courtroom experience across Alameda County and beyond to build the strongest possible defense.

If you’re facing solicitation charges under PC 653f, the most important thing you can do right now is speak with a defense attorney before making any statements to law enforcement. Schedule a consultation with our team and take the first step toward protecting your rights, your career, and your future.