Trenton pimp no longer pimpin’ after admitting to human trafficking, witness tampering
TRENTON >> It’s hard out here for a pimp.
City pimp Darrell Smith, who escaped with a ninemonth prison bid last time he was charged with sex exploitation crimes, faces a much stiffer punishment of up to 10 years in the joint after admitting to human trafficking and witness tampering, authorities said.
It’s a bit of redemption for Mercer County assistant prosecutor Heather Hadley, who handled a previous human trafficking case brought against Smith nearly three years ago. That case crumbled when the victims stopped cooperating. Hadley was aided this time around by assistant prosecutor Caitlyn Kelly.
The 48-year-old city man admitted last week to firstdegree human trafficking and third-degree witness tampering before Mercer County Judge Peter Warshaw under a plea deal with Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofiri’s office. Sentencing is set for Dec. 13.
Smith was one of four people hit with a 19-count indictment that included counts of human trafficking, sexual assault and promoting prostitution.
He was charged with Gabriel Tabor, 29, Shannon Heisler, 38, and Jennifer Willis, 34, all of Trenton, whose case are still pending, prosecutors said.
Smith was accused of forcing a woman who lived with him into sexual slavery. The crimes happened between Dec. 16 and Dec. 23, 2016, prosecutors said. Smith was also accused of raping the victim.
Willis, who was living at Smith’s home during the time, was placing “sexually suggestive” ads of herself and the victim on Backpage, prosecutors said.
Cops discovered the four forced another woman who was living in the home to prostitute herself, prosecutors said. Tabor and Willis allegedly posted the second victim’s photos on Backpage for Smith while he was incarcerated.
Smith, who has been arrested 50 times throughout his life, saw his previous prostitution enterprise busted up after he was arrested in a Wawa parking lot in Lawrence Township in spring 2016.
Prosecutors said one of Smith’s victims accused him of kidnapping her at gunpoint and forcing her into the sex trade.
A Las Vegas woman also claimed the capital city pimp promised her a new life if she moved in with him as his girlfriend.
In that case, prosecutors alleged that Smith made up business cards for his sex slaves, arranged meetings and set up a Paypal account for johns to pay for illicit encounters, many of which took place at the Mount’s Motel off Route 1 in Lawrence.
Smith got off easy in that case with the 9-month prison stint after prosecutors explained the victims went AWOL.
“These cases are so factsensitive and victim-driven that it is important to have that victim cooperation to prosecute,” Hadley told The Trentonian in November 2016. “When we charged the defendant, we had cooperative victims, but we ultimately had to resolve because they were just not available and uncooperative as the cases progressed.”