A California man was convicted on March 18 in U.S. District Court in Seattle of six federal felonies related to a multi-state sex trafficking operation, according to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Brandon Denzel Washington, age 33, was found guilty after a four-week trial and three days of jury deliberation. The charges included conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking through force, fraud, and coercion, one count of sex trafficking by fraud and coercion, and four counts of transporting women for prostitution through coercion and enticement. Sentencing is scheduled for June 18.
The case highlights ongoing concerns about human trafficking across state lines and the methods traffickers use to control their victims. According to court records, Washington trafficked four women between 2014 and 2021 in states including Washington, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Hawaii. The jury could not reach a verdict on three additional counts.
The investigation began when a retired Bellevue Police Officer noticed unusual activity at a luxury apartment building in Bellevue. Law enforcement then analyzed financial records, travel documents, online advertisements for commercial sex acts, and social media posts to identify victims and gather evidence against Washington.
During the trial, four named victims testified about being trafficked by Washington. Some described violent assaults and threats used to keep them under his control while earning hundreds of thousands of dollars for him through commercial sex acts. Evidence showed that when the women escaped his control they left without any money they had earned; instead, Washington used their earnings to fund luxury apartments in several cities as well as designer clothes, fine dining experiences, luxury vehicles—including a gold-wrapped Bentley—and promoted this lifestyle on social media to recruit more victims.
Prosecutors presented text messages where Washington discussed taking large sums from the women he controlled as well as using violence and manipulation to maintain power over them. In some messages he described targeting vulnerable women with low self-esteem for recruitment into sex work.
In closing argument Assistant United States Attorney Celia Lee told the jury that Washington “used fists, lies and manipulation to get vulnerable women to support his lavish lifestyle.”
Sex trafficking through force or coercion carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison; conspiracy can result in up to life imprisonment; transporting victims for prostitution is punishable by up to 20 years.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the Bellevue Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kate Crisham and Celia Lee.
