The judge told Brandon Denzel Washington that while he “may have perceived himself as ‘King Bentley,’” he was “little more than a slave master.”
A California man who prosecutors say used violence, threats, fraud, and manipulation to force women into prostitution across multiple states was sentenced Friday to over 17 years in federal prison.
Brandon Denzel Washington, 33, was sentenced in US District Court in Seattle to 210 months behind bars following his March conviction on six federal felonies stemming from a sex trafficking operation that stretched from 2014 to 2021.
Washington was convicted 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 prostitution through coercion and enticement.
At sentencing, US District Judge Richard A. Jones delivered a blistering assessment of Washington's conduct. While prostitution “is often referred to as ‘the oldest profession’ . . . in actuality, it is the oldest oppression,” Jones said.
The judge told Washington that while he “may have perceived [himself] as ‘King Bentley,’” he was “little more than a slave master,” adding that although Washington would eventually receive a release
date, there “was no expiration date for the pain and trauma [he] inflicted upon his victims.”
According to federal prosecutors, Washington trafficked women between Washington, Nevada, California, Oregon, and Hawaii, using physical assaults, threats, emotional abuse, and manipulation to maintain control over them.
The investigation began after a retired Bellevue Police officer working security noticed an unusually large number of men visiting a luxury Bellevue apartment building over the course of several weeks. Investigators subsequently examined financial and travel records, online advertisements for commercial sex, and social media posts to identify potential victims and build their case.
Five victims testified during Washington's trial, describing brutal assaults and threats used to keep women under his control while they generated hundreds of thousands of dollars through commercial sex.
Prosecutors said women who managed to escape Washington were left without the money they had earned. Washington, meanwhile, used the proceeds to finance luxury apartments in downtown Seattle, Bellevue, Las Vegas, and Fort Lauderdale, along with designer clothing, expensive restaurants, travel, and luxury vehicles.
Through one victim, Washington obtained a Bentley valued at more than $120,000 and had the vehicle wrapped in gold. Prosecutors said he then flaunted the lifestyle on social media to recruit additional women.
Evidence presented at trial included text and social media messages in which Washington discussed the hundreds of thousands of dollars he collected from women, the violence he used against them, and his efforts to identify potential victims. In some messages, prosecutors said, Washington specifically sought women with low self-esteem or other vulnerabilities he believed he could exploit.
“For nearly ten years this defendant supported a lavish lifestyle while preying on young, vulnerable women and forcing, defrauding, and coercing them into prostitution,” First Assistant US Attorney Neil Floyd said. “Multiple victims were brave enough to testify in court and told harrowing stories of abuse – emotional, mental, and physical – that Washington employed to keep them earning money for his benefit. This lengthy prison term is justly deserved.”
Prosecutors had requested a sentence of 292 months.
Assistant US Attorney Celia Lee contrasted the support Washington received from his own mother and sisters with his treatment of the women he trafficked. “He chose not to extend decency to the women he trafficked… He sold them a lie, and then he sold them over and over to strangers,” Lee told the court.
Acting HSI Seattle Special Agent in Charge April Miller credited the retired Bellevue officer's vigilance with helping expose the trafficking operation, saying Washington “used assaults, threats, fraud, and coercion to manipulate these women into, and then to keep them in, this horrendous situation.”
Jones will determine how much restitution Washington must pay his victims at a hearing scheduled for Sept. 11. After completing his prison sentence, Washington will spend 10 years on supervised release and will be required to undergo domestic violence treatment.
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