Sex trafficking

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 12 — A Lansing man has been arrested on federal charges of sex trafficking for allegedly taking four women, including a minor, across state lines.    

Tyrone Smith, 45, Tyrone Smith was the only defendant named in an indictment filed in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Michigan that was unsealed today. Smith was in custody. He has a detention hearing in Grand Rapids Monday.    

According to the 10-page indictment, between December 2013 and June 2015 Smith forced the women into prostitution and transported them to Illinois to sell their services.    

He faces three counts of sex trafficking by force, two counts of transportation for the purpose of prostitution, one for sex trafficking of a minor and one count of transportation of a minor for purpose of prostitution. The indictment identified the minor as 17 years old.    

If convicted, Smith could face life in prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.    

Smith pleaded guilty in 1996 to one count of second-degree murder and one count of felony firearms. He was released from prison on June 8, 2013.