Cyber Crime Lawyer Blog

As a South Florida cyber crime criminal defense attorney, I don’t write about every child pornography case in the news because there are so many. But a case covered by the St. Petersburg Times Aug. 25 caught my attention because it came with a twist: The defendant is accused of not only possessing child pornography, but building a site online where users could trade it. Gary Lee Peel, a 19-year-old student at St. Petersburg College, faces 20 counts of child pornography possession and two charges of promoting child pornography.

According to the Times, Peel was caught when he allegedly uploaded a pornographic video onto a file-sharing Web site. This caught the attention of the private National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which tipped off the authorities. The CyberCrime Task Force from the Florida Attorney General’s office traced the upload to Peel’s computer -- then discovered that he also built and maintained the Web site. All in all, investigators say they seized hundreds of images and videos, as well as two computers and other electronics. Of course, they also shut down the site.

The article does not specify what penalties Peel faces. But as an Orlando cyber crime criminal defense lawyer, I know it’s likely to be a long prison sentence. The penalty for possession of child pornography in Florida is up to five years in prison for each image -- meaning Peel could get up to 100 years for the possession charges alone. Promoting a sexual performance by a child -- that is, providing, making or distributing such material -- is a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years for each charge, meaning he might face another 30 years for those. Those penalties could be even higher if prosecutors find evidence that Peel was involved in making the images, a very serious crime.

These are gravely serious charges that will have a profound effect on Peel’s future. In fact, even if he is ultimately found innocent, he could still face a serious social stigma and unfair persecution because our society abhors this type of crime. In my role as a Miami-Dade cyber crime criminal defense attorney, I fight hard for the rights of clients charged with sex crimes involving children, because I know that emotions sometimes overwhelm the logical judgment of law enforcement officers and prosecutors. In fact, even these days, officers and prosecutors may not have the technological savvy to understand exactly who has control over what data. This can lead to wrongful charges against computer users whose only mistake was to leave their computers vulnerable to tampering.

In these cases, I can use my own experience as a former cyber crime prosecutor to find evidence that might ultimately clear the client of wrongdoing. If necessary, I can even bring in outside computer forensic experts to track down the truth and testify to it before a jury. Without a doubt, child pornography crimes shock the conscience -- but when emotions run high, the civil rights of defendants aren’t always respected. As a Fort Lauderdale cyber crime defense lawyer, part of my job is to seek the truth and protect my clients’ legal rights -- even if it makes me unpopular.

As a South Florida cyber crime criminal defense lawyer, I have watched the fallout from the Lori Drew case with interest. Drew is the St. Louis woman who was prosecuted for making a false MySpace account and pretending to be a teenaged boy in order to spy on her 13-year-old neighbor, Megan Meier. Meier committed suicide after “Josh,” the imaginary teenaged boy, said cruel things to her. Drew’s actions were not illegal in Missouri at the time, but public outrage helped to pass a law making “cyberbullying” a felony in Missouri and a crime in several other states. (As I have noted on this blog before, Drew was later convicted of violating the MySpace terms of service, although she is likely to be acquitted.)

Recently, prosecutors in Missouri had a chance to test the new cyberbullying law. Elizabeth Thrasher, 40, of St. Peters, Missouri, is accused of harassing a 17-year-old girl who is the daughter of the woman Thrasher’s ex-husband is dating. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Thrasher was fighting with the mother of the teenager, which prompted the teen to send Thrasher a MySpace message telling her to grow up. Thrasher allegedly responded by creating a personal advertisement on the “Casual Encounters” section of Craigslist in the teenager’s name, listing her name, picture and several ways to contact her. Not surprisingly, the girl received a deluge of messages from strange men, including messages containing pornography.

The Post-Dispatch said this is the first felony prosecution under the cyberbullying law, although several misdemeanor cases have been filed. According to MediaPost News, Thrasher’s attorney is fighting the charge with the claim that it’s unconstitutional. Defense lawyer Mike Kielty said the law should be thrown out because it criminalizes behavior that is not a crime offline. He acknowledged that Thrasher’s behavior was “inappropriate and a bad idea,” but characterized his client’s behavior as similar to writing a name and phone number on a bathroom wall suggesting that men call “for a good time” -- which is not a crime in Missouri. To the Post-Dispatch, he said that the statute was poorly written and criminalized what was essentially a practical joke.

As a Miami-Dade cyber crime criminal defense lawyer, I’m not so sure her conduct would be legal in Florida, even if it was offline. Thrasher’s intent may have been to commit a practical joke, but her actions essentially offered a minor for sexual purposes. There are multiple federal and Florida state laws that might apply, including procuring a person under 18 for prostitution, cyberstalking and lewd and lascivious offenses on a minor.

Whether the Missouri cyberbullying law is unconstitutional is another matter, and one that could have important effects on similar laws in other states. According to the Post-Dispatch, the law prohibits adults from making threats and communications that could cause emotional distress to someone under 18. The MediaPost article quoted an Internet law expert who suggested that Kielty was wrong to think a law is unconstitutional just because the same behavior offline is legal, and pointed out at least one such law. As a Fort Lauderdale cyber crime criminal defense attorney, I know that no such law has been challenged -- but the question is whether it could be. While I believe the law’s intent was good, the strong emotions surrounding the Lori Drew case may have created unintended consequences that do a disservice to individual liberty.

If you thought the government wasn't taking tax evasion matters seriously before, think again. Former UBS banker who COOPERATED with the US government and the IRS got sentenced today to40 months in prison . The IRS is not taking these matters lying down and are searching for anyone involved in hiding money from Uncle Sam. As Miami Criminal Defense Tax Evasion Lawyers, we are experienced in international banking matters.

Not much need be said as this UBS saga continues to play out. The only thing people need to know is that if you qualify as an individual who may be the target of an IRS tax evasion investigation, there is no time to delay. Call today for your FREE consultation. The number is easy 1-866 ARRESTED (within Florida), or 866-685-3421 (nationwide).

UBS Criminal Defense Attorney's represent individuals being investigated and/or charged with tax evasion. In light of the pending settlement between the United States government and the UBS Swiss Bank, the IRS is receiving 4,450 accounts, which at one time held approximately $18 billion in assets. As a Miami Tax Evasion UBS Criminal Defense Lawyer, this is not the end to this saga. Aside from UBS, the US government is seeking any individuals who may have or currently are hiding assets offshore.

The US government's so-called new voluntary disclosure program is not as new as most believe. For a long time the IRS allowed and continues to allow individuals to resolve tax issues anonymously. If you or anyone you know currently has IRS and/or tax evasion issues and would like a FREE consultation from experienced tax evasion criminal defense attorneys, don't delay call today 24/7 1-866-ARRESTED.

The celebrity media reported potentially major cybercrime news yesterday when the identity of a blogger who smeared a former supermodel was revealed. As Inside Edition reported Aug. 20, Liskula Cohen sued Google to find out the name of an anonymous blogger who called her a “psychotic, lying, whoring... skank” using the Blogger service that Google owns. Earlier in the week, Cohen won the lawsuit and learned that the blogger is Rosemary Port, a public relations worker and socialite who Cohen said was a passing acquaintance. Cohen said she wasn’t sure why Port would say those things about her, but dropped her defamation lawsuit after confronting her.

Online privacy experts across the Web are saying this may spell the end of online anonymity. In previous online defamation cases, many Internet users have escaped liability and culpability because it’s difficult to connect a online posting with a person. Complicating matters, the federal Communications Decency Act shields online service providers such as Google and Yahoo! from liability for the material their users post, and judges do not always rule that providers must turn over information such as IP addresses that can identify the writer. Without that information, victims of defamation often don’t have any recourse but to sue an anonymous “John Doe.”

I believe that may change. In this court ruling, New York state trial court judge Joan Madden rejected Port’s argument that information in blogs should not be treated as factual assertions. If this argument is accepted by other courts, that means bloggers may be liable not only in defamation lawsuits, but also in criminal prosecutions for cyberstalking, cyberbullying or even criminal defamation (which is against the law in 17 states, including Florida). That has huge implications, not only for South Florida cybercrime criminal defense attorneys like me, but also for every Internet user. Without reliable legal barriers to maintain privacy, legal actions against Internet users could skyrocket.

As a Fort Lauderdale cybercrime criminal defense attorney, I have mixed feelings about this. Illegal behavior online is still illegal, and I support laws that apply the same standards to the same behavior in both forums. But when governments get the power to regulate or even criminalize speech, history shows that some will misuse that power to squelch unpopular ideas. If online service providers can routinely be compelled to turn over identifying information on users, criminal prosecution of free speech could become frighteningly common -- whether it’s speech about politics, touchy issues like sex or, as in this case, simply unkind to someone with the means to stop the speaker.

As a Miami tax evasion criminal defense lawyer, I have been following the federal government’s lawsuit against Swiss bank UBS with great interest. The IRS reached a settlement last week in its lawsuit seeking to force UBS to disclose information on 52,000 American taxpayers who may be hiding assets at the bank. The case grew out of an earlier criminal investigation of UBS, which the banking giant settled by agreeing to disclose a smaller list of names of customers it believed may be guilty of breaking U.S. tax laws. Three of the people on that smaller list have already pleaded guilty in IRS prosecutions, and Bloomberg News reported Aug. 15 that a fourth taxpayer has pleaded guilty to failing to disclose his UBS account.

According to the article, this newest defendant is John McCarthy of Malibu, California, a businessman and UBS client. He reportedly reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, in which he will plead guilty to a charge of failing to file a document disclosing the account’s existence. The article said the account was in the name of COGS Enterprises Ltd., a Hong Kong company that UBS bankers reportedly told McCarthy to set up to hide his identity. McCarthy is accused of transferring profits from a U.S. business into the COGS account in Switzerland, then moving it to another Swiss account to continue hiding it from U.S. tax authorities. The plea deal also requires him to pay a penalty of 50% of the highest value of the COGS account since 2003, and to cooperate with tax authorities.

Given the amounts typically stored in these accounts, that could be a very high penalty. But as a Fort Lauderdale tax evasion criminal defense attorney, I know McCarthy could have faced much more severe penalties if he had not cooperated. People charged with tax evasion -- the likely charge for hiding assets -- face up to five years in prison in addition to back taxes, interest and penalties of up to $100,000 or 50% of the account’s value. Those are for each year in which the account was not disclosed, so taxpayers with five years of undisclosed accounts could face up to 25 years in prison and fines worth more than the account itself. Thanks to the settlement in the larger case, the names of 52,000 more UBS clients could be disclosed to the IRS -- and all of them could face the same steep penalties.

As I have written here before, however, the IRS has already started a program offering lenience to taxpayers who admit the existence of taxable income they haven’t yet declared. Under the voluntary disclosure program, which ends this Sept. 23, taxpayers can receive substantially reduced penalties in exchange for disclosing their overseas accounts and paying back taxes and interest on that income. According to the Associated Press, taxpayers with undeclared income in UBS accounts have been scrambling to take advantage of this program before the bank turns over their names -- which would end their opportunity to participate -- or the end of the program. In fact, the AP reported that taxpayers are coming forward in huge numbers, with one week in July seeing more than 400% more disclosures than all of 2008.

Taxpayers do not need a South Florida tax evasion criminal defense attorney to make this disclosure -- but it’s strongly recommended, especially since the IRS reportedly conducts in-person interviews with many of the voluntary disclosers. I am proud to say that I represent clients who come forward under this program, helping them prove their eligibility, sort out what information must be disclosed and get the best and fairest possible deal with the IRS. According to the AP article, UBS officials reportedly openly advised their clients to take actions that violated U.S. tax laws; many clients may have relied in good faith on this advice, only to later discover that they were breaking the law. As a Miami-Dade tax evasion criminal defense lawyer, my goal is to make sure a voluntary disclosure does not expose them to harsh financial or criminal penalties for what may be a misunderstanding -- and ultimately leaves them better off than they would be in a criminal prosecution.

Continue reading " Fourth UBS Client Pleads Guilty to Tax Crimes as Bank Reaches Legal Settlement With IRS " »

Florida has been hit hard by the housing bust, with the third-largest rate of foreclosures in the nation and plummeting housing prices. And according to an Aug. 4 article in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, federal government efforts to encourage loan modifications have fallen flat, with fewer than 9% of eligible loans modified under the federal Making Home Affordable program and 15% of eligible homeowners receiving an offer of a loan modification. Troubled homeowners trying to take advantage of the program report getting the “runaround” from their banks, with their phone calls ignored, endlessly transferred or even hung up on; paperwork lost one or more times; incorrect information or denials from lenders; and months of delay, during which foreclosure proceedings continue.

In response, I am pleased to announce that I offer foreclosure defense services to homeowners throughout Florida, both from my own Miami office and through my seven-office law firm, Balliro, Galasso, Leskovich & Seltzer. Our Fort Lauderdale foreclosure defense lawyers can get the bank’s attention, even if the homeowner has been trying unsuccessfully for months, precisely because we are lawyers. If necessary, we will file a Florida foreclosure prevention lawsuit right away to stop the foreclosure process, giving clients time to negotiate a real, sustainable loan workout or decide on another plan that minimizes the damage to their financial lives and their families.

For months now, our Miami foreclosure defense attorneys have followed story after story in the media from homeowners whose efforts to help themselves have been ignored by their loan servicers. A New York Times article from June detailed the misadventures of one loan modification company employee who was told to submit documents a fourth time after the bank lost her first three submissions. A colleague down the hall was later hung up on when he tried to get to the bottom of a similar problem. Another article in the Florida Times-Union detailed the struggles of a Jacksonville homeowner who waited months for a loan modification, only to be denied because of the kind of loan she had -- something the bank knew about from Day One. A real estate professional quoted in that article alleged that lenders prefer to allow foreclosures because it’s better for their bottom lines than setting up a payment plan.

I believe my status as a South Florida foreclosure defense lawyer can cut through this red tape. No reputable attorney or loan modification company will guarantee a successful loan modification -- but because banks know attorneys will sue to protect their clients’ rights, they tend to pay attention. In fact, we review every new client’s loan history for evidence of illegal predatory lending practices, such as writing loan terms into a contract when they were not discussed in verbal negotiations. Predatory lending is a particularly big problem among people with subprime or exotic loans, including adjustable-rate loans, as well as with borrowers whose first language is not English. We will sue to invalidate any loan that evidence shows was originated under illegal or questionable circumstances, stopping foreclosure right away in many cases.

Unlike banks motivated by profit -- or the need to at least appear profitable -- an Orlando foreclosure defense attorney is an advocate who is explicitly on your side. That’s extremely important when you’re up against a large bank or loan servicer with millions in profits and a small army of lawyers. I can promise that I will work my hardest to keep my clients out of foreclosure and secure a loan modification that actually lowers their mortgage payments, for good.

A second-grade teacher in Orlando was arrested last week on federal charges of receiving child pornography, the Orlando Sentinel reported July 30. Robert Sewell Barth, 57, has been away from his job at Cheney Elementary School since December, on “relief of duty” status. According to the Sentinel, that was the same month when investigators caught Barth viewing a child pornography video, then came to his home to investigate his computer. He was released on bail from Seminole County jail Thursday, with charges pending, but confined to his home and forbidden to have unsupervised contact with children. His Orlando child pornography criminal defense lawyer said he wants to continue his ongoing treatment for addiction to pornography.

During the December investigation, FBI agents found 1,100 pictures and at least 25 videos in Barth’s computer, the Sentinel said. Barth admitted to investigators that he had purchased child pornography and said he was addicted to pornography. He has taught at the elementary school for at least four years, and according to another Sentinel article, he was commended as teacher of the year there in 2007. He and his wife have also fostered 19 children for the state of Florida, and he has been a religious education teacher and Cub Scout leader. The Florida Department of Children and Family Services has interviewed 18 of the 19 foster children without finding any improprieties.

Barth has admitted to purchasing child pornography, according to the Sentinel. But as a Fort Lauderdale child pornography criminal defense attorney, I hope parents at his school and community members are able to see a distinction between possessing child pornography and the grave crime of molesting children. Barth is not accused of harming any children under his care, and if the Sentinel articles left nothing important out, there are no allegations against him of improper behavior with children under his care. Child pornography possession is a serious crime in its own right, but it is not molestation, a distinction that is very important to Barth.

Federal child pornography charges are very serious. The single charge of receiving child pornography Barth faces could land him in federal prison for five to 20 years, and that’s the sentence applied to people with no prior convictions. (If charged under Florida state law for possession of child pornography, Barth could go to prison for up to to five years for each individual image.) Already, his family has lost the ability to provide foster care and his career as a teacher is almost certainly over. If convicted, he faces a lifetime of sex offender registration requirements, obstacles to getting other jobs because of convicted-felon status and a corrosive social stigma.

As a Miami child pornography possession defense attorney, I fight vigorously for clients facing these steep penalties. In many cases, I can use technical knowledge and the help of computer forensic experts to raise important questions about the prosecution’s case. Depending on the circumstances, I may work to show that the images are not of children, or that they got onto the defendant’s computer through a virus or another person. Remember, the government must always prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt -- including in cases involving materials or acts that the community finds shocking.