CV Man Charged in FBI Indictment
Former FBI Agent Paul Raymond Flood of Castro Valley appeared in a federal courtroom in Oakland last Wednesday, December 18. He is charged with cyberstalking, witness tampering, and obstruction of a criminal investigation by bribery.
The charges stem from a federal grand jury indictment filed on May 16, 2024, and unsealed last week. Flood, 54, was a Special Agent with the FBI from 2007 through 2019. He was arrested on Tuesday, December 17, to face charges in court.
According to the indictment, in early October 2018, Flood met a female first-year law student, referred to in the indictment as “Victim-1” or “V-1,” who had contacted him for information on pursuing a future career with the FBI. A family member of V-1’s, referred to in the indictment as “B-1,” knew Flood and referred the victim to him.
Within a few weeks, Flood allegedly began to make unwelcome romantic advances and patterns of harassment and intimidation. This included Flood delivering a diamond ring to the victim in mid-October 2018, using different numbers and messaging applications to call the victim for nearly a year, and sending messages claiming he had put the victim and her family under surveillance.
According to the indictment, the victim feared retaliation but eventually reported Flood’s behavior to federal and local law enforcement authorities in June 2019. Shortly thereafter, the FBI suspended Flood from duty.
In response, Flood allegedly continued to pressure, harass, intimidate, and persuade the victim to help him, including threatening to commit suicide and bribery. Court records show Flood initially got the victim to evade the investigator’s interviews and subpoenas. Flood also persuaded the victim to agree to enter a sham marriage with him so that she would not have to testify against him, buying her a $17,000 engagement ring in the process. She did not follow through with the scheme.
If convicted, Flood faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each witness tampering count, three years on the witness tampering count, and five years on each count of cyberstalking and obstruction.
Flood is currently on conditional release. His next appearance in federal court is scheduled for January 15, 2025.
