Mikal Smith Indicted on Sex Trafficking and Money Laundering

Mikal Smith, a former NFL assistant coach and the son of longtime head coach Lovie Smith, was indicted on sex trafficking charges by an Arizona state grand jury on August 24, 2020. The nine-count indictment accused him of running a prostitution enterprise in the Phoenix area between December 2018 and September 2019, with prosecutors describing him as the “ringleader” of the operation.¹

The Nine Counts

The Arizona Attorney General’s office charged Smith with:

One count of conspiracy
One count of illegally conducting an enterprise
One count of first-degree money laundering
Two counts of pandering
Two counts of receiving earnings of a prostitute
One count of sex trafficking
One count of threatening or intimidating

Two additional counts of prostitution were also included.¹ A co-defendant, Aprel Mae Rasmussen, was charged with conspiracy, illegally conducting an enterprise, first-degree money laundering, and pandering.²

What Prosecutors Alleged

The indictment alleged that Smith and Rasmussen operated the enterprise in and around Phoenix and its suburbs between late 2018 and late 2019. According to prosecutors, the two induced an adult female victim to engage in prostitution for more than two months, and Smith kept control over her through “constant surveillance and threats of retaliation.”³

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Smith was also accused of compelling Rasmussen herself to engage in acts of prostitution and of threatening and intimidating both Rasmussen and a second, unnamed victim.⁴ The Chandler Police Department led the underlying investigation but released few specifics to the press.³

Arrest, Bail, and Arraignment

Officers arrested Smith at his home in Tempe, Arizona, on the same day the grand jury returned the indictment. He was booked into the Chandler-Gilbert jail.⁵ Smith posted $100,000 bail and was released, with an arraignment scheduled for September 10, 2020.⁴

Where the Case Stands Publicly

Public reporting on the case ends with the September 2020 coverage of the indictment and arrest. No trial, plea, conviction, acquittal, or dismissal is documented in those sources. Neither Lovie Smith nor any NFL organization issued a public statement about the charges in the reporting available at the time.² A charging document is an accusation, not a finding of guilt.

Who Mikal Smith Is

Smith was 43 at the time of the indictment. He played college football for two seasons at the University of Arizona before transferring to Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he graduated.⁶ He coached in the NFL for seven seasons, six of them on staffs led by his father. He joined the Chicago Bears as a defensive quality control coach in February 2010 and was coaching nickelbacks by 2012.⁴ After the Bears fired Lovie Smith following the 2012 season, Mikal spent 2013 with the Dallas Cowboys and then coached safeties for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014 and 2015 under his father.⁷

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KOLD News 13. Son of Former NFL Coach Indicted in Arizona Prostitution Ring
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WCPO Cincinnati. Mikal Smith, Son of Football Coach Lovie Smith, Indicted for Running Alleged Prostitution Ring
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Fox 10 Phoenix. Ex-UArizona Football Player and Son of Ex-NFL Coach Accused of Running Prostitution Ring
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Chicago Sun-Times. Ex-Bears Coach Lovie Smiths Son Mikal Smith Arrested on Sex Trafficking Charge
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Fox 13 Memphis. Mikal Smith, Son of Former NFL Coach Lovie Smith, Indicted on Sex Trafficking Charges
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Fox 13 Memphis. Mikal Smith, Son of Former NFL Coach Lovie Smith, Indicted on Sex Trafficking Charges
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Yahoo Sports. Lovie Smiths Son Mikal Arrested on Prostitution and Sex Trafficking Charges in Arizona