Violent pimp who trafficked women through the west, beating and threatening them, sentenced to 15 years in prison

When one victim tried to escape, defendant engaged in rolling gun battle on Aurora Ave N in Seattle

Winston Cornell Burt in court.
Screenshot from YouTube video

Seattle – A California man was sentenced on Monday, March 10, 2025 in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 180 months (15 years) in prison for two federal felonies related to his sex trafficking of adult female victims, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. 

Winston Cornell Burt aka “Dice Capone,” 32, of Hemet, California, was arrested November 6, 2022, after he brutally assaulted a 20-year-old woman and engaged in a rolling gun battle as she fled in a van driven by a man who picked her up from the middle of Aurora Avenue in north Seattle. 

The sentence will run concurrent with a 176-month sentence imposed in King County Superior Court.

At today’s sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John H. Chun said, “This was horrific criminal conduct – outrageous conduct. He treated (the victims) terribly – and that is an understatement.” Judge Chun ordered Burt to be on 15 years of supervised release following prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney Miller said,

“Winston Burt is a manipulative and predatory person who has supported a luxurious lifestyle for himself with the prostitution profits of his victims,”

“His conduct – badly beating women in his control and engaging in a rolling gun battle when one person tried to escape – put our community at risk. Throughout his adult life, Burt has exhibited nothing other than disregard for the law and a complete lack of respect for women.”

In October 2024, Burt pleaded guilty to the federal charges of Sex Trafficking through Force, Fraud, and Coercion and Unlawful Possession of Firearms. In King County Superior Court, he pleaded guilty to three counts of Assault 2; Drive-by Shooting; Unlawful Imprisonment; and Assault-3.

According to records filed in the case, Burt self-identifies as a “pimp” who led a sex trafficking enterprise through California, Arizona, and Washington. The young women were required to provide all the money they earned in prostitution to Burt. Three women had his name tattooed on their faces – a sign of “ownership.”

On November 2, 2022, Burt assaulted the 20-year-old victim in this case by kicking her, punching her, and pistol whipping her after she indicated she wanted to stop working for Burt. The assault occurred at an Airbnb in south Seattle. 

Photo from Aurora business surveillance video

The escape

Three days later, on November 5, 2022, Burt assaulted the victim again and forced her to strip to her underwear. The victim tried to escape from the rental home by jumping out a third story window. 

The defendant and two women working for him forced her into a car and drove towards a motel on north Aurora Avenue. Burt was armed with a gun, but the victim was able to get out of the car and ran into traffic on Aurora wearing only her underwear. 

Burt and his other female sex workers tried to force the victim back into the car, but the victim stayed in the middle of the roadway until finally she was picked up by a driver who saw her in distress.

Even after the victim was driven away in a van, Burt gave chase on Aurora Avenue and fired shots at the van with the victim inside. The driver was eventually able to evade Burt and called the Washington State Patrol for assistance.

Ultimately law enforcement responded to the scene and got the victim to Harborview Medical Center for treatment.

“As this case so horrifically illustrates, human trafficking is a violent crime and, more than that, constitutes modern day slavery,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. 

“Even after the victim took extreme measures to try to escape, including jumping from a third-story window, Mr. Burt cruelly chased, assaulted, and shot at her and the driver who stopped to help her.

"He engaged in all this violence for what could be the most egregious of purposes: to return to unlawful captivity a human being he viewed, in effect, as his property. The FBI and our federal, state, and local partners will continue to pursue consequences for violent offenders befitting their crimes, and justice for their victims.”

Arrested in south Seattle

Burt was arrested on November 6, 2022, as he was attempting to leave the Airbnb in south Seattle. In the car police recovered more than $41,000 in cash, and a firearm. At the time of his arrest Burt was wearing a $29,000 diamond necklace and a watch appraised for $85,000.

Law enforcement determined that Burt had used some of his illegal income to purchase a home in Arizona. When that home was searched, they recovered an additional firearm, methamphetamine and nearly $25,000 in cash.

Burt will forfeit both firearms and more than $72,000 in cash.

In asking for the 15-year sentence and 25 years of supervised release to follow, prosecutors wrote to the court, “Burt is a sex trafficker who used physical, mental, and emotional coercion to prey upon and control his victims for his own financial benefit. 

"He forced his victims to walk the “track” and arrange dates with sex buyers, thus making them vulnerable to rape, assaults, or arrest. He also required the victims to follow his “rules,” which included tattooing his name on their faces and earning him at least $2,000 per day through commercial sex. Despite being a prohibited person, Burt routinely carried firearms and used them to further threaten and control his victims.”

Speaking to the court by phone today, the victim said Burt “gets a thrill from violence and hurting people. I was one of the lucky ones who got away.”

The case was investigated by the FBI, and Seattle Police Department with assistance from the Washington State Patrol (WSP). FBI Phoenix also assisted.

Senior Deputy King County Prosecutor Alexandra Voorhees worked closely with Assistant United States Attorney Kate Crisham on this case.