By Peter Berton

ALBERTA, Canada – A member of the Provincial Legislative Assembly found out who his real friends were after he was busted during a prostitution sting in the U.S.

Mike Allen, MLA for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, was one of 13 people arrested July 15 in St. Paul, Minn., where he was representing Alberta at a conference. He awaits a court hearing Nov. 13 on a gross misdemeanor charge of soliciting prostitution. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of one-year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

Minnesota police said Allen, 51, offered two undercover officers $200 to join him for a threesome.

Had Allen purchased sex services at home, he would have enjoyed a much more understanding and less litigious response, according to the West Coast Cooperative of Sex Industry Professionals. In a prepared statement issued Oct. 10, the group assured Allen “his activities in Minnesota would be lawful, private and welcome in Alberta, where sex workers are pleased to consider respectful requests for personal services.”

“In addition, sex workers in Mr. Allen’s riding of Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo want him to continue as their MLA,” the WCCSIP stated. “We feel he made a mistake taking his business out of Alberta to puritan St. Paul, Minn., but sex workers in his constituency are still pleased to have an MLA who values the services they offer.”

Not everyone in Allen’s district is as supportive. One survey indicated 69 percent of voters in Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo want the MLA to resign from the legislature, to which he was elected as a Progressive Conservative in 2012. He resigned from the party the day after his arrest and now sits as an independent.

Allen has not responded publicly to the WCCSIP’s declaration of support, although he did make a public statement shortly after his arrest.

“I made this mistake of a profound lapse of personal judgment,” he told the media. “It is my mistake, for which there is no excuse and for which I accept full responsibility.”

[SIZE=1]Image: Mike Allen booking photo, Ramsey County, Minn., Sheriff’s Department[/SIZE]