A Baltimore-based law firm contacted federal prosecutors in Maryland in February 2021 saying their client had been a target of “unwanted and hateful” online attacks from a woman his client had dated years ago. They believed others, too, were targets, including her now-husband’s supervisor.
An affidavit by a special agent with the FBI’s Baltimore office says it was actually the other way around — Richard Michael Roe, then represented by Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin, and White, was the one who had harassed and cyberstalked the woman, her husband, her family members, friends and co-workers for months.
The FBI affidavit unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Maryland lays out a series of allegations of stalking, using spoofed phone numbers and text messages aimed at the woman.
Roe is charged with cyberstalking and is currently free on $100,000 bond. He pleaded not guilty at an initial appearance on Friday.
The woman, who was not named in the affidavit, matched with Roe on Bumble when she was visiting a friend in New York City. They went on their first date a few weeks after — a University of Maryland basketball game at Madison Square Garden — and she traveled to the city a handful of times to visit him. But the relationship didn’t last.
The two stopped talking after she didn’t see the relationship progressing. She met her now-husband in November of 2019, about a year after she first talked with Roe.
The allegations at the heart of the cyberstalking charge arose shortly after.
Between December 2019 and August 2020, Roe called the woman at least 47 times. Investigators traced a total number of calls to Roe using online services that allow people to spoof phone numbers and hide their identities — at least 327 calls on Prankowl, 448 calls on PrankDial and 129 calls on TextFree. She only picked up his first call.
Roe is accused of sending texts to her now-husband and her roommate at the time. Many of the messages were meant to intimidate her, according to the affidavit. In one message sent in April 2020 from a spoofed number controlled by Roe, he referenced her husband’s license plate and car model. In another message, he hinted he had gained access to her phone, including her emails and Snapchat, Amazon, LinkedIn and Poshmark accounts.
“Leenz!!!! changing your icloud doesn’t do anything!!!!! when im inside your phone!!!!!” the message read.
She began using WhatsApp, an encrypted messaging app, hoping he would not be able to reach her. The harassment prevented her from talking with her family and coordinating the needs of her father, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She was his caregiver.
When her father died in August 2020, she received another message from a spoofed number controlled by Roe. It was two days before the viewing for her father.
“mike r u goin to ed [redacted] viewing and mass on the 20th???? Thursday!!!! u know leenzys4 dad passed away on the 13th???? [redacted] will be there!!!! u should come!!!! does that explain leenzys vacation last week???? and [redacted] ?????”
He often referred to himself in third person in messages, the affidavit said, likely to make it seem he was not behind the number.
Days after the funeral, the FBI said, Roe sent a text referencing her father’s death to the woman: “mikey loves aug 20 2020 cuz it’s the day leenzy dropped her dad in a hole 6ft down!!!!”
“I believe Roe sent the above abhorrent message to V1 to cause her such substantial emotional distress,” FBI Special Agent Steven Fantigrossi wrote.
Around the time of her father’s death, Roe reached out to the woman through his work phone — which he said it was recommended by his lawyers — to express condolences and say he was going to make a donation online to a cancer research foundation.
The FBI said there’s is no indication that his attorneys advised Roe to message her through his work phone.
At the same time, he sought a protective order against her in New York City. He had a subpoena served on the woman at her workplace in Rockville. She spent over $50,000 to retain legal counsel to defend herself.
Her cyberstalker accused her of harassing and stalking him. Cyberstalkers often conduct activities to make it appear as though they are the victims, according to the affidavit.
She had to install a Ring camera and surveillance system in her home, fearing for her safety. She went into therapy and changed her phone number.
Roe also called the woman’s mother incessantly, sometimes 40 to 50 times a day. Her aunt, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Maryland, became a target, too. Roe also called the woman’s husband and his workplace.
Someone who worked with her husband received calls in the middle of the night from a spoofed number. They filed a police report with the Anne Arundel County Police Department against Roe in September of 2020. Police officers tried to reach Roe via multiple phone numbers he had used, to no avail.
Less than two weeks after that, the woman received another message from a spoofed number controlled by Roe.
“mikey!!!! I told u bout anne arundal police report!!!!! maybe u should check Baltimore city and mont county and dc for some police reports!!!!!”
By then, she had gone to the Montgomery County Police Department, and the office referred the case to the FBI.
After Roe’s attorneys reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland, the FBI began investigating the woman, too.
While Roe used a VPN, or virtual private network, to try to mask his identity online, investigators were able to identify him by matching the IP address “used in criminal activity with IP addresses used to access electronic accounts at or around the same time,” which was leased to his mother.
Bonnie Bullock Roe of Timonium posted the bond last week for her son after his arrest. As part of his conditions of his release, Roe has been ordered to notify any potential employers of the case against him and not to possess anyone’s personal information but his own.
