Costa Fined on Soliciting Charge

Assemblyman Jim Costa pleaded no contest today to a charge of soliciting a prostitute and was placed on three years’ probation and fined $255.

The plea was entered in Municipal Court in Sacramento by Costa’s attorney. Costa, 34, a Democrat from Fresno, did not appear in court. The assemblyman was arrested Aug. 29 in north Sacramento after police said he and a 19-year-old prostitute approached a female undercover operative who was posing as a prostitute. Police said vice officers waiting nearby heard Costa agree to pay her $50 to join them in a threesome.