Delon Richard Smith, a 47-year-old resident of Daytona, Florida, was sentenced to 327 months in federal prison for sex trafficking two women. The sentencing took place in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida after Smith pleaded guilty in October 2025 to two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion and one count of conspiracy related to those crimes. In addition to his prison sentence, Smith was ordered to pay $4,800 in restitution to the victims.
“This sentence reflects the abhorrent acts of violence the defendant used to exploit the victims for his own personal profit,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Commercial sex trafficking depends on the systematic dehumanization of its victims and debasing victims by treating them as commodities. The Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section will prosecute those who, like Smith, use people like disposable products for an illegal business and violate them in endless ways when doing so.”
U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe for the Middle District of Florida commented: “The manipulation and brutality used by the defendant in this case against his victims was egregious and reprehensible. Due to the hard work and diligence of our local and federal law enforcement partners, and courage of the victims, this criminal was brought to justice.”
Special Agent in Charge Jason Carley of the FBI Jacksonville Field Office stated: “Sex trafficking is a violent crime, not a business. This defendant deliberately used force and coercion to control and exploit vulnerable women to line his own pockets. Crimes like this are not victimless. They cause lasting trauma and undermine the safety of our communities. The FBI will continue working with our partners to investigate those who use violence and exploitation to profit and ensure they are held fully accountable for their actions.”
Court documents reveal that Smith recruited both victims separately in 2021 and 2022 by offering drugs and promises of money-making opportunities before forcing them into commercial sex work around Daytona Beach. He advertised one victim online using her photograph, transported both women between locations for meetings with buyers, kept all proceeds from their activities, and inflicted severe physical harm if they did not comply.
Smith threatened his victims with references to gang membership in the Bloods while routinely punching or choking them as a means of coercion. In one incident described by prosecutors, he punished a victim for not earning enough money by firing a gun near her face then pressing its hot barrel against her skin; on another occasion he struck a victim with a gun’s butt before dragging her into his car.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI Jacksonville Field Office with help from Daytona Police Department officers.
Prosecution was handled by Trial Attorney Leah Branch from the Justice Department’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section along with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Megan Testerman and Kaley Austin-Aronson from the Middle District of Florida.
Individuals with information about human trafficking are encouraged to contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org for more resources about identifying or reporting such crimes. Further details on government efforts against human trafficking can be found at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.
