New Orleans Man Wanted in Bay County Child Solicitation Case Caught in Sunny Hills

A 44-year-old New Orleans man wanted on an active Bay County warrant for soliciting a minor for sexual conduct was arrested Thursday morning at a residence in Sunny Hills, an unincorporated community in southern Washington County. Deputies took Alphonso Ali Smith into custody without incident around 6:30 a.m. on Pine Log Road, and he now faces extradition back to Bay County to answer the charges against him.

Deputies assigned as Task Force Officers with the Washington County Sheriff's Office made the arrest in coordination with the U.S. Marshals Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office. As reported by mypanhandle.com, Smith was charged with solicitation of a minor for sexual conduct, transmission of harmful material to a minor, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.

Beyond the Bay County warrant, Smith faced multiple active warrants out of Louisiana for similar offenses as of Thursday, per deputies. He will be held in the Washington County jail pending extradition to Bay County, where the original warrant originated.

A Federal-Local Manhunt Across State Lines

The U.S. Marshals Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force maintains regional divisions in Tallahassee and Panama City specifically to help Panhandle sheriff's offices track down violent offenders and fugitives whose cases cross county or state lines, per the U.S. Marshals Service. Smith's case fits that pattern: a New Orleans resident who traveled across state borders into Northwest Florida while carrying an active warrant in Bay County and additional warrants out of Louisiana.

Washington County and Bay County share a contiguous border in the Florida Panhandle, and the two sheriff's offices frequently coordinate joint digital forensics work and cross-jurisdictional task forces when investigating crimes against children, the Washington County Sheriff's Office notes. Under Florida's Uniform Interstate Extradition Act, individuals arrested on out-of-county or out-of-state warrants are held in a local detention facility while governor's warrants or formal inter-agency transfer detainers are processed, according to Florida statute. It remains unclear how long that process will take before Smith is formally transferred to Bay County custody.

What Florida Law Says About the Charges

Under Florida's Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act, soliciting a child or someone believed to be a child using a computer or electronic device is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, up to $10,000 in fines, and mandatory lifelong sex offender registration, according to the Brancato Law Firm. That statute applies regardless of whether an actual minor or an undercover officer was on the receiving end of the communication.

Separately, using a cellular phone or other electronic two-way communication device to facilitate or further a felony is its own third-degree felony under Florida law, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, per Pumphrey Law. Florida Statute § 847.0138 also makes transmitting images, data, or other content deemed harmful to minors to someone known or believed to be under 18 a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison, according to the Florida Legislature. Taken together, the charges Smith faces carry the potential for decades of combined prison exposure.

Part of a Broader Panhandle Enforcement Push

Smith's arrest is the latest in a string of Panhandle cases targeting online solicitation of minors. Hoodline previously reported on a joint digital bust in which Washington County and Bay County investigators worked together on an electronic transmission case that also led to an out-of-state fugitive arrest, and later covered a separate case involving a Washington County corrections officer accused of sending explicit video to a minor over Snapchat.

In November 2025, a multi-agency operation led by the Bay County Sheriff's Office called Operation Fall Sweep resulted in 14 arrests for online solicitation of minors, transmitting harmful material, and unlawful use of communication devices, according to the Bay County Sheriff's Office. Several open questions remain in Smith's case, including whether the original Bay County investigation stemmed from an undercover sting or a citizen complaint, the specific details of the pending Louisiana warrants, and the exact timeline for his extradition from Washington County.