Cybercrime is one of the fastest growing areas of the law, involving computer crime and internet crime. These crimes consist of a variety of state and federal offenses. An effective defense of computer-related charges requires a deep understanding of the technology associated with the offenses – both in terms of how the crime is committed and how the crime is investigated by law enforcement.
Who We Are
The Criminal Defense attorneys at McCarthy Lebit that handle computer and cyber-related crimes have a wealth of experience Our attorneys have years of experience defending computer-related offenses and are up-to-date on all federal and state developments regarding internet cybercrime. Several members of the Criminal Defense team at McCarthy Lebit are nationally-published authors in this field with the subject matter expertise needed to successfully mount an effective defense.
How We Help
Despite what many may think, crimes committed online are often easy to detect and trace. For this reason, a successful defense of computer crimes often requires defense counsel to force the government to provide unconventional forms of evidence in the discovery phase of litigation and to raise complex and novel suppression issues. Additionally, to aggressively defend cybercrimes, defense counsel must be well-versed in computer forensics.
Types of computer offenses we defend include:
- Importuning
- Online Solicitation
- Pandering Sexually Oriented Matter
- Violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
- Various forms of computer fraud and identity theft
Virtually every cyber crime investigation is conducted by either the FBI or the Department of Homeland Security, both of which are known for enlisting the best cyber crime experts. A Cyber Division at FBI Headquarters with specially trained cyber squads protects against investigate computer intrusions, theft of intellectual property and personal information, child pornography and exploitation, and online fraud. In all cyber crime cases, the evidence collected by the FBI or DHS generally consists of hundreds of Gigabytes (if not Terabytes) of electronic files, forensic data and reports. Winning a Federal trial is almost impossible, given the fact that the federal government has virtually unlimited resources. Social media are also a perfect hunting ground for cyber crime, and increasingly people have noticed that their friend may not actually be their friend.
In theory, the Sixth Amendment provides that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury. In practice, only 1.6% of federal court defendants whose case was adjudicated had a jury trial in 2015.
The reason is straightforward: only 258 of the 3,024 defendants who went to trial in 2015 were acquitted. With less than 1 out of 12 chances of acquittal, it is a shaky roll of the dice for a federal criminal defendant to go to trial.
Who We Represent
A charge of cybercrime can result in substantial criminal penalties and jail time. An investigation could waste needless time, expense, and result in many challenges for you and/or your company, including damage to your reputation and loss of liberty. The federal criminal process can be very lengthy, sometimes spanning months or years.
If you find yourself the subject of an investigation, the most important thing you can do for your defense is to not divulge any information to a federal agent without first discussing with your attorney and having your attorney present. Understand your rights. Get an attorney on your side to defend you.
The defense attorneys at McCarthy Lebit have the experience and knowledge needed to prepare your defense to fight these accusations. Let us help you.