SACRAMENTO, Calif. -Jarrail Lamont Smith, 24, of Cleveland, Ohio, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Troy L. Nunley to 15 years in prison on two counts of interstate transportation of a minor for the purpose of prostitution, Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, in August 2015, Smith traveled from Cleveland to California with two minor victims with the expectation that they would engage in commercial sex acts with others for his benefit. Once they arrived in Northern California, he directed them to post advertisements for sexual services online. The investigation revealed multiple advertisements posted in the Bay Area and Sacramento that featured photographs of both victims. After receiving a tip that one of the minors was being trafficked at a motel in Sacramento, the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force initiated a sting operation to recover her. The operation was successful, and agents found the other minor victim in the same hotel room. One of the minors had two black eyes when the task force located her.
“Sex trafficking of minors is a horrendous crime, and we will not sit idle while criminals take advantage of our nation’s youth," said FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Manuel Alvarez. “This case highlights the commitment of our FBI Child Exploitation Task Force partners to combat this crime problem."
This case was the product of an investigation by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force, which is made up of FBI agents and detectives from the Sacramento Police Department and Roseville Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Michele Beckwith and Nirav Desai prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. Click on the “resources" tab for information about internet safety education
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
