A Maryland judge has jailed a former FBI agent who raped three women in his tattoo studio after he promised them free body art and modeling opportunities.
Eduardo Valdivia was given a 60-year prison sentence for his crimes, which Montgomery County Circuit Judge Cheryl McCally described as “diabolical.”
“It was not only heinous, it was vicious what you put in motion,” Judge McCally said as she sentenced Valdivia, according to court documents.
The 41-year-old former FBI agent faced an eight-day trial on six counts of second-degree rape. He was found guilty on all six charges.
The court heard that Valdivia set up a secret tattoo parlor under the aliases Lalo Brown and El Boogie when he was not working at his day job.
According to prosecutors, Valdivia had two studios, with the first being located on the second floor of a strip mall in Potomac. The second was located at an office building in Gaithersburg.
He set up a secret tattoo studio named DC Fine Line Tattoos to lure women by promising them modeling contracts and offering free tattoos.
Valdivia would then film himself sexually assaulting them, according to prosecutors.
A married father of three children, the former agent, would then use the footage to blackmail him into returning.
“It’s about the predator catching his prey,” Assistant State Attorney Rachel Morris told jurors during closing arguments. “It’s about total control and domination over these young women.”
Prosecutors also claimed that Valdivia destroyed much of the video evidence after he learned that the police were searching for him in 2024.
Valdivia claimed in court that his encounters with the women were consensual.
However, two of his victims spoke in court about how the former FBI agent’s crimes had impacted their lives.
“There are days I don’t want to talk,” a 21-year-old victim said. “There are days I don’t want to go out of bed.”
Another said that she was speaking in court to “reclaim the voice of my 18-year-old self.”
When Valdivia raped his first victim, who was in high school at the time, he had just been charged with another crime.
In 2022, a jury determined that Valdivia had acted in self-defense when he shot and killed a man on a Metro train.
The FBI agent claimed that the man had pushed him into a corner and had threatened to take his gun, forcing him to open fire. He was acquitted of all charges related to the 2022 shooting.
Valdivia has worked in field offices in Los Angeles, San Juan, and Puerto Rico before moving to Washington. During this time, he worked undercover on cases related to violent gangs.
Since his most recent trial, he has been fired from the FBI, according to his attorney.
Montgomery Court records, obtained by the Wall Street Journal, also revealed that he and his wife are divorcing.
