A Little Rock man's past caught up with him Thursday when a federal judge accepted an agreement that will send him to prison for 10 years for a crime that normally would be punishable by less than four years behind bars.
The charge of transportation of an individual to engage in prostitution would have ordinarily subjected Nathaniel Smith IV to 37 to 46 months in federal prison under federal sentencing guidelines, even with his lengthy rap sheet factored in. But on Dec 19, the 37-year-old agreed to plead guilty and accept a 10-year sentence in exchange for prosecutors dropping six other charges against him.
Had he gone to trial on all seven charges and been convicted by a federal jury, his long list of previous crimes would have left him facing a penalty range of 22 to 27 years in prison. It was a chance that neither he nor defense attorney, Kim Driggers of the federal public defender's office, wanted to take.
Still, Smith made it clear at his sentencing hearing that he didn't like the idea of pleading guilty to a crime that forces him to register as a sex offender, and as a result face restrictions on using electronic devices, including cellphones.
Smith also made a point of disputing the May 2014 testimony of a Little Rock police detective who said during a bond hearing that Smith was a founding member of a violent 25-year-old street gang. Smith said he wasn't in the gang.
The vice detective, Jennifer Hurd, also testified that two women who were caught selling sexual services at local motels in April 2014 described Smith as their pimp and said he subjected them to beatings and "painful, forced sex" if they failed to earn at least $500 a day by prostituting themselves.
Smith was indicted June 6, 2014, on multiple charges, including allegations that he forced two women to engage in sexual acts for his benefit. However, those charges were dismissed as part of his plea agreement.
In a sentencing memorandum, Driggers took issue with the fact that despite the dismissal, a presentence report prepared by U.S. probation officers to aid the judge in sentencing "reads as if Mr. Smith is guilty of sex trafficking," which he denies.
Driggers argued that the charges stemmed "entirely from statements of prostitutes." She noted that one of the women has admitted being a drug addict and a prostitute by choice, and has said she met Smith in Florida at a hotel where she was working as a prostitute, then voluntarily returned to Little Rock with him to continue her "work."
The woman's description of events, Driggers said, "is very different from the one portrayed by law enforcement at Mr. Smith's bond hearing and what was published in the newspaper."
At the bond hearing, Hurd said an investigation leading to Smith's arrest began when officers received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about an advertisement for an "escort" on the website Backpage.com that appeared to feature a female younger than 18.
Driggers said that despite Hurd's testimony about the painful, forced sex, the woman who accompanied Smith from Florida to Little Rock told other officers "she has never had a sexual relationship with Mr. Smith."
A second woman has said Smith would yell at her if she didn't make quotas and that she ate only after earning her keep. But Driggers said that woman also denied that Smith ever threatened her, denied ever having sex with Smith, and continued to send Smith text messages after she left the hotel where he was staying, in an effort to continue her work as a prostitute.
Driggers said a third alleged victim admitted having sex with Smith but said it wasn't forced.
Driggers acknowledged that two other women and a girl made statements that were more incriminating against Smith. But, she said, "It cannot be over-emphasized that Mr. Smith has not been convicted of forcing these women into sexual acts by fraud or coercion."
She asked that the presentence report, which "will follow Mr. Smith throughout his incarceration and supervision," should be modified to remove the allegations.
U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker agreed to attach Driggers' memo to the presentence report so that Driggers' objections would become a part of the record. Noting an objection from Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant about the gang reference being removed from the report, Baker said she would leave the reference but add a notation that Smith denies any gang affiliation.
The terms of the December plea agreement, which Driggers said "was the only offer [presented to Smith by prosecutors] that allowed him to plead to a crime without a 15-year mandatory minimum [sentence]," could have been rejected by Baker, forcing Smith to go to trial. Although Baker approved it, she refused to change the provisions requiring Smith to register as a sex offender upon his release and to obtain permission from probation officers before using the Internet during his five years of supervised release.
"This makes me sound like a rapist or a child molester or a child pornographer," Smith said.
Baker said the sex-offender category under which Smith will be listed must be determined by state officials.
Metro on 08/28/2015