Former CIA officer sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexual misconduct

A former CIA officer was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison for his role in dozens of sexual attacks against women over the course of 14 years.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Brian Jeffrey Raymond, 48, of La Mesa, California, was on assignment in the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico, when a woman was seen nude and screaming for help from his balcony in May of 2020.

The woman reported to authorities that she had no recollection of events after she was provided food and drink by Raymond. A subsequent investigation revealed Raymond had hundreds of photographs and videos of over 25 women he had drugged and sexually abused while they were unconscious and unable to consent.

After learning of the investigation into his conduct, the DOJ stated Raymond attempted to delete explicit photographs and videos which depicted Raymond manipulating and touching the victims after he had drugged them. In total, Raymond admitted to drugging over 30 women between 2006 and 2020.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement Raymond’s prosecution shows a commitment by the Justice Department to bring criminals to justice – no matter who they are.

“Brian Raymond sexually exploited dozens of women over the course of 14 years, including while he served abroad as a U.S. government employee. Today’s sentence underscores the Criminal Division’s commitment to prosecuting sexual abuse in violation of federal law – no matter where those violations occur or who commits them. We are grateful for the valuable partnership we have with the Mexican government and will continue to work with our domestic and international partners to pursue justice for victims of sexual exploitation,” Argentieri said.

In November 2023, Raymond plead guilty to one count of sexual abuse, one count of abusive sexual contact, one count of coercion and enticement, and one count of transporting obscene material. As part of a plea deal, Raymond admitted to drugging and engaging in non-consensual sex with six women, and admitted he had touched the breasts, buttocks, groin area and/or genitalia of numerous women while they were unable to consent.

Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington Field Office, said the crimes committed by Raymond were reprehensible.

“For 14 years, Raymond exploited his trusted position as a U.S. government representative to lure women into his confidence. He then drugged and sexually assaulted them and took explicit photos and videos of them without their consent. The FBI thanks the brave women who shared information that furthered this investigation. We recognize our domestic and foreign law enforcement partners who helped bring Raymond to justice for his reprehensible crimes,” Sundberg said.

According to the Associated Press, U.S. Senior Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly imposed the full 30-year sentence requested by prosecutors.

“It’s safe to say he’s a sexual predator…You are going to have a period of time to think about this,” Kollar-Kotelly said.

Some of the victims were unaware they had been sexually assaulted until the FBI had made contact with them.

“My body looks like a corpse on his bed…Now I have these nightmares of seeing myself dead,” one victim said of the photographs. Another victim claimed she had suffered a nervous breakdown after Raymond’s crimes against her were exposed.

Raymond said in a statement during his sentencing that he was in a “downward spiral,” and has spent hours thinking about his crimes, the report said.

“It betrayed everything I stand for and I know no apology will ever be enough…There are no words to describe how sorry I am. That’s not who I am and yet it’s who I became,” Raymond said.

The DOJ has been under fire from many quarters in recent years for the appearance it has been weaponized against President Donald Trump.

The problem has gone so far that Attorney General Merrick Garland recently publicly claimed that the department is non-partisan and does not make decisions based on politics.

However, it charged President Trump with felonies over possession of government documents after he left office, but gave Joe Biden a pass for boxes and boxes of government secrets he had stashed in an unsecured garage.

Further, the DOJ has weaponized itself by claiming that Trump committed crimes with his statements challenging the accuracy of the 2020 presidential election ballot count, when Hillary Clinton’s multiple claims that the election was “stolen” from her have not drawn DOJ criticism.

Even further back was the DOJ’s work, based on political documents assembled by the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2016, to make wild claims about the Trump campaign colluding with Russia, which in fact did not happen.