Charges filed in case of woman who jumped out window, got caught in gun battle to escape pimp
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SEATTLE - A man who was arrested after a woman made two harrowing escapes from him and then got caught in a gunfight on Aurora Avenue has been indicted on several charges.
Self-identified "pimp" Winston Cornell Burt, also known as ‘Dice Capone,’ has been federally charged with:
- Sex trafficking through force, fraud and coercion
- Transportation of an adult female for prostitution through coercion and enticement
- Two counts of unlawful possession of firearms
Burt, 31, is accused of taking the 20-year-old victim from her home in California to traffick her for sex in Seattle.
Before Burt's arrest on Nov 6, 2022, court documents said he would kick the victim, punch her, and pistol-whipped her when she said she wanted to stop working for him.
After one night of the alleged physical assaults, the victim tried to escape out the front door of an Airbnb that she, Burt and other women were staying at, but Burt picked her up and slammed her to the ground, according to Senior Deputy Prosecutor Benjamin Gauen in charging papers.
Fearing she would be killed, she ran upstairs with Burt chasing her and then jumped from the third-story window, the documents said.
She ran, practically naked, onto the busy Aurora Avenue-- the stretch where Burt allegedly made her work, according to court documents.
An Uber driver saw her in distress and picked her up. Burt chased them in his vehicle and fired shots at the van with the victim inside, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. The rideshare driver was also armed and fired back.
Docs: Trafficked woman taken from California makes harrowing escape from 'vicious' Seattle pimp
A young woman made two harrowing attempts to escape her vicious pimp — including jumping out a third-story window — before being rescued by a ride-share driver who engaged in a gunfight with the man, prosecutors in Seattle said.
"(The woman) felt safer in the middle of a busy highway, practically naked, at night than being within arm’s reach of the defendant," Gauen wrote. "Surveillance video from a nearby business has corroborated the woman’s account of what happened."
Washington State Patrol responded and got the woman to the hospital. She had black eyes, broken ribs, a broken leg and spinal injuries, according to court documents.
On Nov. 6, Burt was arrested he was attempting to leave the Airbnb in south Seattle.
"The level of violence in this case is stunning – brutal beatings of young women, threats with firearms, emotional and physical control of every aspect of the victims’ lives," said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. "I commend the Seattle Police Department and King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for working quickly to get Mr. Burt in custody, thus ensuring the immediate safety of the victim and the community."
The indictment calls for the forfeiture of both firearms, more than $24,000 in cash, and jewelry worth in excess of $100,000.
Sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion is punishable by a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison and up to life in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. "Transportation of an adult female for prostitution through coercion and enticement" is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and illegal possession of a firearm is punishable by ten years in prison, the office said.