California man convicted of sex trafficking victims across the United States

Seattle -A 33-year-old California man who compelled women into prostitution using assaults, threats, fraud, and manipulation was convicted late yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle of six federal felonies related to his multi-state sex trafficking activity, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. The jury deliberated for three days following a 4-week jury trial, convicting Brandon Denzel Washington of 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 the purpose of prostitution through coercion and enticement. U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones scheduled sentencing for June 18, 2026.

According to records filed in the case, Washington was charged with trafficking four different women. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on three other counts of sex trafficking. Multiple victims testified about Washington trafficking and transporting them to Washington, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Hawaii between 2014 and 2021.

The sex trafficking scheme was first uncovered when a retired Bellevue Police Officer working security noticed a high number of men visiting a Bellevue luxury apartment building over a period of just a few weeks. The investigation took off from there with law enforcement investigators analyzing financial records, travel records, ads for commercial sex posted in online forums, and social media posts to identify victims of Washington's sex trafficking activities and to gather evidence of the offenses.

Four named victims testified at the trial, some describing brutal assaults and threats Washington used to keep them or other victims in his control and earning hundreds of thousands of dollars for him through commercial sex acts.

When women were finally able to get free from his control, they left without any of the money they had earned. Evidence at trial showed that Washington used his victims' earnings to fund his lifestyle, including luxury apartments in downtown Seattle, Bellevue, Las Vegas, and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, designer clothes, fine dining, and luxury vehicles. Through one victim, he acquired a Bentley car worth over $120,000, which he then wrapped in gold. Washington then used his social media accounts to boast about his lifestyle in an effort to recruit other women.

At trial prosecutors offered text messages and messages from social media where Washington described the hundreds of thousands of dollars he took from the women in his control. In those messages, he also discussed the violence he used to control them and the manipulation and promises he used to recruit other victims. In some text messages, Washington stated that he was searching for victims with low self-esteem or who were otherwise particularly vulnerable targets who he could force and manipulate 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, fraud, and coercion is punishable by a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison. Conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion is punishable up to life imprisonment. Transporting a victim for prostitution is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with assistance from the Bellevue Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kate Crisham and Celia Lee.