Irving, TX – A 47-year-old Keller resident was taken into custody Wednesday morning, February 4, 2026, during an Irving Police Department Vice Unit operation targeting individuals soliciting prostitution in the city.
According to police, an undercover officer posted an advertisement on an overseas website commonly used to arrange paid sexual encounters. We are not including the website address as we don't want to promote it to our readers. The ad featured a phone number and portrayed the officer as an adult female offering services.
Early that morning, the officer received a text message from a man asking, “Good morning! Do you have any availability for an incall today?” Investigators say “incall” is a term commonly used in prostitution arrangements to indicate the buyer will come to the provider’s location.
After further messaging, the two agreed on a price of $140 for 30 minutes of sexual intercourse. The undercover officer provided the location of the SureStay hotel at 4325 W. John Carpenter Freeway in Irving and instructed the man to arrive at 11:00 a.m.
At 11:04 a.m., the suspect texted that he was parking at the hotel and asked for the room number. At the same moment, officers conducting surveillance observed a gray Chevrolet Tahoe pull into the lot and park. A white male exited the vehicle and walked toward the designated room.
The room’s window had been left open, showing it was unoccupied. After noticing this, the man returned to his vehicle and texted the officer, stating that the room appeared empty. He then sent additional messages asking the “escort” to open the door or perform other actions to prove someone was inside. The undercover officer did not comply.
The man texted that he was leaving the hotel. Officers watched as the Tahoe exited the parking lot. An Irving patrol officer in a marked vehicle initiated a traffic stop and took the driver into custody without incident.
The suspect was identified as Howard Deane Smith, 47, of Keller. Officers recovered $140 in exact change from the pocket of his jacket, precisely the amount he had agreed to pay.
Smith was charged with Solicitation of Prostitution, a state jail felony in Texas. While state jail felonies do not carry prison time upon conviction, they are punishable by up to two years in a state jail facility or up to 10 years of probation, along with fines.
The arrest was the second made that morning as part of the Irving Police Department’s ongoing efforts to suppress prostitution-related activity in the city.
Anyone with information about similar activity is encouraged to contact the Irving Police Department using the non-emergency number (972) 273-1010.
