Ringleader and Co-Defendant Indicted in Alleged Prostitution Ring

CHANDLER -- Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced that a State Grand Jury indicted Mikal Lee Smith on charges of Conspiracy, Illegally Conducting an Enterprise, Money Laundering in the First Degree, Pandering, Receiving Earnings of a Prostitute, Sex Trafficking, and Threatening or Intimidating. His co-defendant, Aprel Mae Rasmussen, was indicted on charges of Conspiracy, Illegally Conducting an Enterprise, Money Laundering in the First Degree, and Pandering.

Between December 2018 and September 2019, Smith and Rasmussen are accused of operating and maintaining an illegal prostitution enterprise.  It is alleged that Smith and Rasmussen induced and encouraged an adult female victim to engage in acts of prostitution for over two months. Smith purportedly used constant surveillance and threats of retaliation to keep the victim under his control.

A detective with Chandler Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant Attorney General Rachel Nava is prosecuting this case.

All defendants are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.

If you are the victim of human trafficking or if you suspect someone may be the victim of human traffickers, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text HELP to: BeFree (233733). The National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline is a national, toll-free hotline, available to answer calls from anywhere in the United States, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in more than 200 languages.

Copy of indictment.

No booking photograph is available for Rasmussen.

Below is the booking photograph for Smith:
Mugshot