The second woman has come forward, claiming a Trenton man abused her and forced her into prostitution earlier this year
TRENTON - From 10 states away, Darrell Smith seemed like a saving grace.
At least that was the case for a Las Vegas woman who quickly fell for the 45-year-old Trenton man online, prosecutors said. Within a month, he had wooed her and convinced her to come to New Jersey to start a better life, Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Heather Hadley said Friday.
But, almost as soon as she moved to Trenton last year, the woman found herself under Smith's control, regularly beaten and forced into prostitution, Hadley said.
The woman - whose name is being withheld - is the second to come to authorities this year claiming she was a victim in Smith's alleged prostitution ring in Trenton.
The 45-year-old was initially charged in January when the first woman came forward, and now he is facing a second count of human trafficking following the Las Vegas woman's story, Hadley said.
Smith was scheduled to appear in court Friday morning for a bail hearing on the second human trafficking charge, but the hearing was rescheduled for May.
Despite the rescheduled hearing, Hadley spoke Friday and detailed the accusations that lead to Smith's charges.
She said the second woman who came forward had been living in Nevada last year. The woman was unhappily working as a prostitute in Las Vegas and was eager to improve her life, Hadley said.
That was around the time she met Smith on Facebook. Smith was living in Trenton but wooed the woman from the other side of the country, promising her a good life in New Jersey.
Man charged with human trafficking
"He said that they would be boyfriend and girlfriend," Hadley said.
The woman was intrigued and agreed to join him on the East Coast when he bought her a plane ticket to New Jersey.
"She thought she would have a changed life," Hadley said.
But that hope dissipated when she settled in Trenton in December, prosecutors said. Smith took all of the woman's money, physically and sexually assaulted her, and forced her into prostitution, Hadley said.
Prosecutors claim the woman's ordeal lasted into January.
But authorities didn't become aware of the alleged abuse until a routine traffic stop outside a Lawrence Wawa led them to another of Smith's alleged victims in January, prosecutors have said.
Police pulled over Smith's car in late January outside the Wawa and found a woman in the back seat. She looked nervous and asked to speak to officers privately.
That woman -- whose name is also being withheld -- told police she was working independently as a prostitute out of a Trenton hotel one night in January when Smith burst into the room and put a gun to her head. She said he told her she was coming with him and took her to a Trenton apartment.
There, he shot the woman up with heroin and forced her into prostitution for days before the traffic stop, prosecutors have said.
The stories of the two women are enough to bring two human trafficking charges against Smith, but Hadley said prosecutors are looking into the possibility that there may be more women involved.
Smith is being held on a $200,000 bail.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.