U.S. Marshals Arrest Convicted Sex Offender

Huntington, WV – U.S. Marshals Cops United Felony Fugitive Enforcement Division (CUFFED) Task Force arrested a Harrison County man wanted for three counts of failing to register as a sex offender, federal supervised release violations and battery.

William Michael Smith, 55, was arrested by members of the CUFFED Task Force which included deputies from Cabell and Kanawha County, as well as the West Virginia State Police at 7 p.m. in the 700 block of Jefferson Avenue in Huntington, West Virginia.

Smith’s failure to register violations stem from a 1983 conviction for 1st degree sexual abuse in Huntington, while his federal probation violation arises from a 2001 conviction for felon in possession of a weapon. Charges of battery have been filed from an alleged incident with a female resident of the Clarksburg city mission where Smith was residing.

After leaving the Clarksburg mission it is believed Smith traveled to Ohio and Florida before coming back to Huntington and taking up residence with a girlfriend. Smith did not notify the West Virginia State Police or his federal supervised release officer of his intentions to move or leave the state prior to doing so. Nor did he inform any of these agencies of his new residence in Huntington.

“The information we can gain about an individual through the combined knowledge of our task force’s state and local counterparts proved once again to be invaluable in tracking and apprehending this felon” said Deputy Marshal John LaJeunesse.

U.S. Marshals are the nation’s primary fugitive hunting organization and capture more fugitives each year than all other law enforcement agencies combined.