Cyber Crimes
AGGRESSIVE DEFENSE & DEDICATED REPRESENTATION
Our Panama City Firm Has Much to Offer. Learn Why People Choose Shepard Law.
Criminal Defense
Cyber Crimes
- Assault
- Battery
- Bulgary
- Domestic Violence
- Drug Crimes
- DUI
- Expungement
- Juvenile Crimes
- Misdemeanors
- Theft Crimes
- Robbery
- Sex Crimes
- Warrants
- Violation of Probation
- Violent Crimes
- White Collar Crimes
No Charges Aggravated Assault
ALLEGATION: Client arrested for drive-by shooting and was facing the possibility of a minimum mandatory 15 year prison sentence under Florida’s 10-20-Life Law. RESULT: After consulting with with prosecutors and law enforcement NO CHARGES WERE FILED.
Negotiated Plea DUI Manslaughter
ALLEGATION: Client charged with DUI Manslaughter. Client faced up to 15 years prison and a permanent loss of his drivers’ license. RESULT: Client entered negotiated plea to probation and is eligible to drive with a hardship license.
Not Convicted Sexual Battery
ALLEGATION: Client who holds a professional certification and license with the State of Florida was accused of Sexual Battery with the possibility of 15 years prison and mandatory “Sexual Offender” designation. Arrest was reported in the Panama City News Herald. RESULT: Charge reduced without consent of victim to simple battery (misdemeanor). Client NOT CONVICTED of any criminal offense and not designated a Sexual Offender. Client able to return to work without loss of professional certification and license
Client NOT CONVICTED Violation of Probation
ALLEGATION: Client violated probation for a second time by failing to report (“absconding”), committing a new crime of Battery, not completing DUI school and failing to complete court ordered community service hours.
Not Convicted Violation of Probation
ALLEGATION: Client violated probation by failing to report (“absconding”) and committing a new felony of Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Forgery. Client was on probation for 7 counts of Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Fraud, 6 counts of Forgery, and 6 counts of Criminal Use of Personal Identification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can they charge me if the account was not in my name?
Yes. The State can proceed on circumstantial evidence linking a person to an account or a device. Whether that evidence is sufficient is a separate question, and it is one of the strongest areas of challenge in these cases.
What if I was only looking and never contacted anyone?
The offense charged depends entirely on the conduct alleged, and the distinctions matter significantly. This is a question to put to a lawyer directly rather than one with a general answer.
Can deleted files still be used against me?
Generally yes. Forensic tools recover deleted data routinely, and the act of deletion is itself recorded and can be presented as evidence of consciousness of guilt.
Will this be a state or a federal case?
It depends on the conduct, the agency that investigated, and decisions made by prosecutors. Some cases can proceed in either forum, which is one reason early involvement by defense counsel can affect the outcome.
Panama City Cyber Crimes Attorney
Cyber crime charges arrive differently from most criminal cases. There is often no arrest at the scene and no witness. Instead there is a search warrant, a seized phone or laptop, and a forensic report assembled months later by an analyst who never met you. By the time charges are filed, the State believes it already has its evidence.
That evidence is more contestable than it appears. Digital activity is tied to devices and accounts, not to people, and the gap between the two is where these cases are won. Rusty Shepard has handled more than 10,000 cases across 25 years in Bay County, and as a former Assistant State Attorney in the 14th Judicial Circuit he understands how the State assembles a computer crimes file and how much of it rests on inference.
Computer Crimes Under Florida Law
Chapter 815 of the Florida Statutes, the Florida Computer Crimes Act, governs most state level computer offenses.
Offenses Against Users of Computers — Florida Statute 815.06
This statute makes it an offense to willfully, knowingly and without authorization access or cause access to a computer, computer system, network or electronic device. It is generally a third degree felony. It rises to a second degree felony where the damage exceeds $5,000 or where the conduct interrupts a governmental operation or a public utility, communication or transportation service. Where the conduct endangers human life, it becomes a first degree felony.
Offenses Against Intellectual Property — Florida Statute 815.04
Willfully and without authorization modifying, destroying or disclosing data, programs or supporting documentation is a third degree felony, and a first degree felony where it is done as part of a scheme to defraud.
Identity Theft
Florida Statute 817.568 covers the criminal use of personal identification information, and it carries some of the most severe exposure in this area of law. Fraudulently using, or possessing with intent to use, another person’s identifying information is a third degree felony at baseline. The offense level and the mandatory sentence escalate with the amount involved and the number of people affected, and the higher tiers carry mandatory minimum prison terms that the court cannot reduce.
Because the tiers turn on victim counts and dollar totals, how the State aggregates the allegations often matters more than whether any individual act occurred. These figures are regularly assembled from spreadsheets and account records rather than from testimony, and they are open to challenge.
Other Charges We Handle
- Online solicitation and traveling to meet a minor under Florida Statute 847.0135, which frequently arise from law enforcement sting operations conducted through messaging apps and dating platforms.
- Cyberstalking under the stalking statute, Florida Statute 784.048, where repeated electronic communication is alleged to have caused substantial emotional distress.
- Sexual cyberharassment under Florida Statute 784.049, covering the publication of sexually explicit images without consent.
- Written or electronic threats under Florida Statute 836.10, a second degree felony that is charged over social media posts and messages more often than most people expect.
- Unlawful interception of communications under Chapter 934. Florida requires the consent of all parties to record a private conversation, and recordings made without it can themselves be a felony.
- Computer fraud, phishing and unauthorized access allegations arising from employment disputes.
When the Case Becomes Federal
Cyber cases cross state lines by their nature, and federal agencies take a significant share of them. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act at 18 U.S.C. 1030, federal wire fraud, and federal identity theft provisions all overlap with the Florida statutes above. Federal aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory consecutive prison term on top of whatever the underlying offense produces.
Panama City sits in the Northern District of Florida, and a federal case proceeds under different rules, different sentencing guidelines and a different timetable from a case in the Bay County courthouse. Whether a case is charged federally is sometimes still an open question when a defense lawyer becomes involved, and that is one of the points at which early representation makes the most difference.
Where These Cases Are Challenged
Authorization
Most computer crime charges turn on the word authorization. Shared passwords, former employee credentials that were never revoked, household devices used by several people, and access that exceeded permission without ever being prohibited are all situations the statutes handle poorly. The State must prove access was unauthorized, not merely unwelcome.
Attribution
An IP address identifies a connection, not a person. Shared households, workplace networks, open wireless access and spoofed credentials all create reasonable doubt about who was at the keyboard. The State’s forensic report typically establishes that activity occurred on a device. It much less often establishes who caused it.
The Search
Digital evidence is produced by warrants, and warrants are subject to challenge. Under Riley v. California, law enforcement generally needs a warrant to search a cell phone, even incident to a lawful arrest. Warrants that are overbroad, that lack probable cause, or that are executed beyond their stated scope can result in the evidence being suppressed. In a case built entirely on the contents of a device, a successful suppression motion frequently ends the prosecution.
Entrapment
In solicitation and traveling cases arising from sting operations, the origin of the conversation, who introduced the subject matter, and how persistently contact was pursued all matter. These cases are heavily dependent on complete chat logs, and the complete log is not always what appears in the initial discovery.
What To Do If You Are Contacted
If investigators have contacted you, executed a search warrant, or asked you to come in and explain, the investigation is already well advanced. Two things matter immediately.
- Do not give a statement, and do not attempt to explain your way out of it. Investigators in these cases usually already have the digital record and are seeking admissions to connect it to you.
- Do not delete anything. Deletion is recoverable, it is visible to forensic analysts, and it creates separate exposure for evidence tampering that can be more serious than the original allegation.
Talk to a Panama City Cyber Crimes Attorney
Shepard Law defends computer and internet related charges throughout the 14th Judicial Circuit, including Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson and Washington counties, as well as federal matters in the Northern District of Florida.
If your devices have been seized or investigators have made contact, speak with us before you speak with them. Call Shepard Law, P.A. to arrange a consultation.
Contact us online at for a free, confidential consultation any time—day or night.
Criminal Defense
Cyber Crimes
- Assault
- Battery
- Bulgary
- Domestic Violence
- Drug Crimes
- DUI
- Expungement
- Juvenile Crimes
- Misdemeanors
- Theft Crimes
- Robbery
- Sex Crimes
- Warrants
- Violation of Probation
- Violent Crimes
- White Collar Crimes
No Charges Aggravated Assault
ALLEGATION: Client arrested for drive-by shooting and was facing the possibility of a minimum mandatory 15 year prison sentence under Florida’s 10-20-Life Law. RESULT: After consulting with with prosecutors and law enforcement NO CHARGES WERE FILED.
Negotiated Plea DUI Manslaughter
ALLEGATION: Client charged with DUI Manslaughter. Client faced up to 15 years prison and a permanent loss of his drivers’ license. RESULT: Client entered negotiated plea to probation and is eligible to drive with a hardship license.
Not Convicted Sexual Battery
ALLEGATION: Client who holds a professional certification and license with the State of Florida was accused of Sexual Battery with the possibility of 15 years prison and mandatory “Sexual Offender” designation. Arrest was reported in the Panama City News Herald. RESULT: Charge reduced without consent of victim to simple battery (misdemeanor). Client NOT CONVICTED of any criminal offense and not designated a Sexual Offender. Client able to return to work without loss of professional certification and license
Client NOT CONVICTED Violation of Probation
ALLEGATION: Client violated probation for a second time by failing to report (“absconding”), committing a new crime of Battery, not completing DUI school and failing to complete court ordered community service hours.
Not Convicted Violation of Probation
ALLEGATION: Client violated probation by failing to report (“absconding”) and committing a new felony of Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Forgery. Client was on probation for 7 counts of Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Fraud, 6 counts of Forgery, and 6 counts of Criminal Use of Personal Identification.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can domestic violence charges be dropped if the victim doesn't want to proceed?
Not automatically. Florida’s State Attorney’s Office can proceed with prosecution regardless of whether the alleged victim wishes to drop charges. However, an uncooperative victim significantly weakens the State’s case and is a factor your attorney can leverage.
Will a domestic violence conviction affect my custody rights?
Yes — significantly. A domestic violence conviction is taken into account in Florida family court proceedings and can affect custody arrangements, visitation rights, and parental responsibility determinations. This makes fighting the charge — not just minimising the sentence — the priority.
Can a domestic violence conviction be expunged?
No. Under Florida law, domestic violence convictions cannot be expunged or sealed. A conviction is permanent. This is why the quality of your legal representation at the outset is critical.
What Sets Shepard Law Apart?
Your case is our priority. We aim for the best outcome.
We understand the complexities of the legal system and the impact on your life. Our focus is on securing your future.
CLIENT FEEDBACK
Our clients’ voices matter. Read about real cases and the positive outcomes achieved with our legal guidance.
Personable and understanding
“Rusty is very personable and accommodating. He made himself available on short notice and met with me after hours. He told me not to worry and got everything dismissed in court this morning! Thank you Rusty and Lisa!!!”
– Lauren
Sweetest, kindest, most Professional #1
“Mr. Shepard and his staff are amazing! They went above and beyond to help me. I would not want anyone else on my team! I am young and despite that, he made sure that the judge saw me as a person and not just a young person. He and his office even spent extra time with me and attended to every single thousand question that I had. They could not get a better rating 10 stars!!”
– Jessica
Absolutely Recommend
“Shepard Law is truly one of a kind!!! Their team of attorneys and support staff knows criminal law inside and out. They will take a case to trial with no fear and are a force to be seen in the courtroom!!!! They are compassionate and make their clients feel supported every single step of the way. They are flexible with payment options, which allows everyone to be able to receive TOP QUALITY representation. I would absolutely recommend Shepherd Law to any of my friends or family members without hesitation.”
– Vanessa M.
Under a time line!!!
“My wife and I found out on a Monday that we needed a Defense Attorney on Tuesday for a family situation. I called the office and Megan quickly contacted Rusty and he reassured us that he would be at court on Tuesday and he would take care of everything. Those words were the most comforting we’ve heard as this came up not long after Hurricane Michael. Rusty and his office has no idea how much he helped us and how much we appreciate their quick response. Thank you will never cover how much you guys mean to us.”
– Craig E.
CONTACT US FOR A FREE CONSULTATION
At Shepard Law, we’re always ready to take your call! Give us a call at (850) 290-2505 or fill out the form below to contact one of our team members.
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