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Brandon Denzel Washington, who used ‘fists, lies, and manipulation’ to coerce vulnerable women to support his lavish lifestyle, was convicted yesterday of six federal felonies related to his multi-state sex trafficking activities.
Thirty-three-year-old Washington, from California, was convicted by a jury that deliberated for three days after a four-week-long trial, involving victims from Oregon, California, Washington, Nevada, and Hawaii.
He will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones on June 18, 2026. Washington is 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.
He Used the Internet to Recruit Vulnerable Women
The jury at the U.S. District Court in Seattle heard testimony of how Washington used the internet to recruit vulnerable women, and used false promises, violence, and manipulation to force them into sex work for his financial gain.
Multiple women testified about Washington trafficking and transporting them to various locations between 2014 and 2021.
Some described brutal assaults and threats used by Washington to keep them under his control, and told how they earned hundreds of thousands of dollars through their commercial sex acts.
The women testified that when they were finally free from his control, they left without any of their earnings.
Security Guard Became Suspicious of the Large Number of Men Visiting a Luxury Apartment Building
The sex trafficking scheme was first uncovered when a security guard, a former Bellevue police officer, became suspicious of the large number of men visiting a luxury apartment building in the area.
Evidence at trial showed that Washington used his victims’ earnings to fund his lavish lifestyle, which included luxury apartments in downtown Seattle, Bellevue, Las Vegas, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, designer clothes, and luxury vehicles.
The jury heard that Washington acquired a Bentley worth more than $120,000 through one of his victims, and then boasted about his lifestyle on social media accounts in an effort to recruit more women.
In the closing argument, Assistant U. S. Attorney Celia Lee told the jury that Washington “used fists, lies, and manipulation to get vulnerable women to support his lavish lifestyle.”
He Faces Between 15 Years and Life in Prison
Sex trafficking through force, fraud, and coercion is punishable by a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison.
Transporting a victim for prostitution is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Conspiracy to commit sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion is punishable by up to life imprisonment.
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