A Washington state man who once boasted on social media about his illicit gains will now spend the next several decades behind bars.

Cedric Dorsey II, aged 32, was recently found guilty of several offenses, including second-degree human trafficking, first-degree promoting prostitution, and illegal firearm possession. This week, he was handed a 35-year prison sentence by the state court.

Prior to his arrest, the defendant posted at least one image of himself posing with a long gun. In one post, Dorsey claimed: “I’m so pimpish.”

Police later used his social media presence against him.

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“I am pleased to incorporate their posts into our investigative process,” stated Major Ellen Inman from the Bellevue Police Department to the Seattle-based ABC affiliate KOMO. “This is how I regard social media and the manner in which individuals promote their unlawful actions — if you disclose it and make it accessible for our use during investigations, then we will certainly utilize it.”

The investigation was initiated following a domestic violence report at an apartment in Bellevue’s Factoria neighborhood — a major city within the Seattle metropolitan region — on April 8, 2024. The victim, whose identity remains undisclosed by authorities, escaped the apartment with assistance from construction workers. Upon arrival, officers observed several signs indicative of human trafficking, which the victim substantiated.

An investigation followed. Several weeks later, law enforcement officials had their sights set on Dorsey and a search warrant in hand.

Due to Dorsey’s several prior entanglements with the law — including prior convictions — law enforcement used a SWAT team to try and dislodge him from his apartment on May 2, 2024. At first, however, the defendant declined to come outside. Later, after getting his mother involved in the process, police convinced Dorsey to turn himself in.

The victim would go on to tell investigators she had been trafficked for sex in various states and cities, including Las Vegas.

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“[The victim] recalled at this time, Dorsey purchased a hotel room for her and got her ‘ads’ posted, and then she began seeing sex buyers,” a police report obtained by KOMO reads. “[The victim] stated that Dorsey was always the one to book hotel rooms for her, explaining that he always wanted to control everything … for a large percentage of prostitution dates, Dorsey required [the victim] to obtain a deposit from a sex buyer to verify they were not law enforcement.”

The woman at the center of the case said Dorsey repeatedly beat her and stomped on her face — which resulted in her hospitalization — in order to keep her in line and under his thumb.

All the while, the defendant posted about his earnings — under the social media profile “CCC Cash Chasen Ced.”

When the search warrant was executed at Dorsey’s residence, law enforcement reportedly recovered $12,000 in cash and three firearms.

“From the Bellevue PD Officers quickly spotting the red flags associated with sex trafficking to the work of the Department’s Human Trafficking Unit, this collaborative operation was truly a textbook example on how to hold an individual accountable for conducting a horrible sex crime on another person,” Bellevue Assistant Chief of Police Andrew Popochock said at the time of the arrest. “Sex trafficking is a crime.”