A 24-year-old Tacoma man was sentenced to nine years in prison today for human trafficking.

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan also sentenced Lashad Alexander to three years of supervised release and imposed a $130,000 restitution fee.

Alexander pleaded guilty in February to forcing a 17-year-old girl to work for him as a prostitute.

He recruited the teen in 2005 and she worked for him until Lakewood police arrested Alexander in March 2010 after the girl called her brother for help, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Alexander occasionally hit the teen, forced her to hand over her earnings, helped her post sex advertisements on the Internet and bought her condoms, motel rooms, cell phones and clothing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.