An FBI agent was found guilty of raping three women after luring them into his tattoo shop by promising them free tattoos and modeling contracts, officials said.
FBI supervisor Eduardo Valdivia, 41, ran secret tattoo parlors under the names Lalo Brown and El Boogie when he wasn’t at his day job, prosecutors said.
The agent used fake names and the Instagram account DC Fine Line Tattoos to lure women into the shop, promising them modeling contracts before filming himself sexually assaulting them, prosecutors said, according to NBC 4 Washington.
After filming the assaults, Valdivia, who joined the FBI in 2011, would then use the fake modeling contacts as blackmail to get the women to return.
Valdivia, a married father of three children, sat expressionless as the jury announced he was guilty on all counts on Friday, according to the Washington Post. He could spend decades in prison for the charges.
While in court, Valdivia took the stand and claimed his encounters with the women were consensual. However, he later admitted to hiding evidence after learning that a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
Valdivia said that he threw away a box of condoms and wiped his laptop and memory card, which held photos and videos of himself having sex with the women.
Valdivia also told the courtroom that he never told the FBI about the tattoo parlors. He had been suspended by the bureau.
The former agent holds degrees in Spanish literature and public health and helped oversee public health clinics around the country before joining the FBI in 2011, according to court documents.
It’s the second time within a matter of years that Valdivia went on trial for felony counts in Montgomery County. In 2020, he was charged with attempted murder for shooting a man on a Metro train.
Prosecutors said the man was asking for money and walked away, cursing, prompting Valdivia to tell him to watch his mouth. Tensions between the two rose, and Valdivia shot the man twice.
Valdivia, however, testified at the time that he felt threatened. A jury found him not guilty on all counts.
After deliberating about three hours, a jury found him guilty of four counts of second-degree rape and two counts of fourth-degree sexual offense.
He is set to be sentenced on October 14.
