Cyber Crimes Defense in Miami

Digital evidence looks certain on paper. It often isn't. Accounts are shared, passwords are stolen, devices are used by more than one person, and forensic reports make assumptions. Who was actually behind the keyboard is one of the most important questions in any cyber case.

Dennis Gonzalez Jr. is a former Miami-Dade prosecutor who has been defending people since 2012, in state and federal court. Our office answers 24 hours a day.

Florida Computer Crimes: Offenses Against Users of Computers and Devices

Florida's main computer-crime law makes it a crime to act willfully, knowingly, and without authorization, or by exceeding authorization, to:

• Access a computer, computer system, network, or electronic device, knowing the access is unauthorized or the use exceeds authorization;
• Disrupt or deny an authorized user's ability to send or receive data;
• Destroy, take, injure, or damage computer equipment or supplies, or damage a computer, network, or electronic device;
• Introduce a "computer contaminant," such as a virus or worm; or
• Conduct audio or video surveillance of a person by accessing a feature of a device, such as its camera or microphone, including data about the device stored by a third party.

Florida law defines an "electronic device" to include a cell phone, tablet, or other portable device that communicates across a network. So these laws reach phones, not just computers.

Penalties:

Other points in the law:

• Your devices can be forfeited. A computer or device you own that was used in the offense, or used to store data obtained in violation of the law, is subject to forfeiture.
• Civil lawsuits. The owner of the computer or data can sue a person convicted under this law for damages.
• Exceptions. The law does not apply to someone acting within the scope of lawful employment, or performing authorized security work for a government or business. Whether you were "authorized" is often the whole case, especially in employer and former-employee disputes.
• Public utilities. Separate provisions cover unauthorized access to a public utility's computers (third-degree felony) and disrupting a utility's service (second-degree felony).

Offenses Against Intellectual Property (Data and Trade Secrets)

A related Florida law makes it a crime to willfully, knowingly, and without authorization introduce a computer contaminant into data or programs; modify, destroy, or make data unavailable; or disclose or take data that is a trade secret or confidential by law. It is a third-degree felony, or a second-degree felony if done to carry out a scheme to defraud or to obtain property. These cases often come up when an employee leaves a company and takes files.

Unlawful Use of a Two-Way Communications Device

Using a phone or any other two-way communications device to facilitate or further any felony is its own third-degree felony in Florida. Prosecutors often add this charge on top of another case, such as a drug sale arranged by text or an online-solicitation case. The State has to prove the device was used to facilitate or further the commission of a felony, so the underlying felony is part of this charge too.

Online Solicitation of a Minor and Traveling to Meet a Minor

Many of these cases come from undercover stings, where an officer poses online as a child or as a child's parent.

• Knowingly using a computer, phone, or other device to solicit a child, or a person believed to be a child, or a person believed to be a parent or guardian of a child, for unlawful sexual conduct is a third-degree felony. The law raises it to a second-degree felony if the person misrepresents his or her age, and each separate use of the internet or a device can be charged as a separate offense.
• Traveling to meet a child (or a person believed to be a child) after that kind of communication is a second-degree felony.

These cases turn on what the messages actually say, who raised the subject, and how the investigation was run. For the full discussion, including entrapment, registration, and bond, see Sex Crimes Defense.

Sexual Cyberharassment ("Revenge Porn")

Florida makes it a crime to willfully and maliciously "sexually cyberharass" another person. The law defines that as intentionally publishing a sexually explicit image of a person to a website, or intentionally sending it electronically to someone else, without the depicted person's consent and contrary to that person's reasonable expectation that the image would stay private, when the image includes, or is posted together with, information that identifies the person.

• Penalties: a first-degree misdemeanor. A person with one prior conviction who does it again commits a third-degree felony.
• For money: doing it for pecuniary or any other financial gain is a third-degree felony, and a second-degree felony for a second or later violation.
• "Conviction" includes a withhold. For these enhancements, a conviction includes a guilty or no-contest plea even if adjudication is withheld.
• Sending it once is not consent to share. The law says that the fact the depicted person sent the image to someone does not, by itself, remove that person's expectation of privacy.
• Longer time limits. Prosecution of a misdemeanor must begin within 5 years of the offense (7 years for a felony) or within 3 years after the victim discovers it, whichever is later.
• Civil lawsuits. The depicted person can sue for an injunction, $10,000 or actual damages (whichever is greater), punitive damages, and attorney fees.

What changed: a 2025 law, effective October 1, 2025, added the financial-gain felonies, added the definition of "conviction" that counts a withheld adjudication or a no-contest plea, revised the definitions, allowed punitive damages, and created the longer time limits. Before that law, the definition also required that the image be posted or sent "for no legitimate purpose, with the intent of causing substantial emotional distress to the depicted person," and that the identifying information be in the image itself. The 2025 law removed those requirements. A 2022 law, effective October 1, 2022, raised the civil damages amount from $5,000 to $10,000. Florida's Constitution bars ex post facto laws, so a posting before October 1, 2025 is judged under the older law. The date of the alleged posting matters.

Defense issues often include who actually posted or sent the image (shared phones, hacked or fake accounts), whether the image and the identifying information meet the law's definitions, whether there was consent, and, for a posting before October 1, 2025, whether the State can prove the intent the older law required.

Fraudulent Use of Personal Identification Information (Identity Theft)

Using another person's personal identification information, such as a name, Social Security number, date of birth, bank account or card number, or a unique electronic identification number or access code, willfully, without authorization, and fraudulently, without that person's consent, is a third-degree felony. Possessing it with intent to use it fraudulently is also covered. The penalties climb with the dollar amount and the number of people:

Other enhancements apply when the victim is under 18 or 60 or older (or is a disabled adult, a veteran, a first responder, a public servant, or a state or federal employee), when the offense used a public record, or when the person pretended to be a police officer or a bank or credit company representative. A $1,001 surcharge applies to any guilty or no-contest plea or finding of guilt, even if adjudication is withheld, and the court cannot waive it. Using someone's information to harass them is a separate first-degree misdemeanor.

For the full discussion of identity theft and other fraud charges, see Fraud & Financial Crimes Defense.

Cyberstalking

A course of electronic messages directed at or about a specific person, or accessing someone's online accounts or internet-connected home systems without permission, can be charged as cyberstalking under Florida's stalking law when it causes substantial emotional distress and serves no legitimate purpose. See Stalking & Cyberstalking Defense.

Federal Cyber Crimes

Many computer cases are prosecuted in federal court in the Southern District of Florida.

• Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (18 U.S.C. § 1030). Federal law covers, among other things, intentionally accessing a computer without authorization or exceeding authorized access and obtaining information from a protected computer; accessing a protected computer with intent to defraud and obtaining something of value; knowingly transmitting code or commands that intentionally cause damage; trafficking in passwords with intent to defraud; and threats to damage a computer made to extort money. Maximum prison terms depend on the subsection, the harm, and any prior conviction, ranging from 1 year for some first offenses to 5, 10, or 20 years, and up to life where death results.
• Wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343). Transmitting by wire, radio, or television communication in interstate or foreign commerce to carry out a scheme to defraud carries up to 20 years in prison, and up to 30 years if it involves a presidentially declared disaster or emergency benefit or affects a financial institution.

Federal cases move differently from state cases and require a lawyer who knows federal court.

Phones, Cloud Accounts, and Search Warrants

In most cyber cases, the key evidence comes from devices and accounts:

• Device seizures. Police often take phones, laptops, tablets, and storage drives and then seek a warrant to search them. A forensic extraction can pull messages, photos, location history, and deleted data.
• Cloud and provider warrants. Investigators also go directly to Google, Apple, Meta, carriers, and other providers for account contents, subscriber records, and IP logs.
• Challenging the search. A warrant has to be supported by probable cause and has to describe what may be searched and seized. A search that goes beyond the warrant, a warrant that never should have issued, or a phone searched without a warrant or a valid exception can lead to a motion to suppress. See Motions to Suppress Evidence.
• Forensics can be challenged too. Who used the device, when files were created, and whether a program, an app, or another person was responsible are questions for the defense's own expert.

Don't Delete Anything

When people learn they are under investigation, the instinct is to delete messages, wipe a phone, or close an account. Don't. Under Florida law, knowing that a criminal investigation is pending or about to begin and destroying, altering, concealing, or removing a record or other item to impair its truth or its availability in that investigation is the separate crime of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony. Deleted data is also often recoverable, and a deletion can look worse than the original messages. Leave everything as it is and call a lawyer.

What to Do If You're Under Investigation

1. Don't talk to detectives or "explain" your messages. Tell them your lawyer will contact them.
2. Don't delete, wipe, or reset anything, and don't ask anyone else to.
3. You can say you want a lawyer before answering questions, including questions about passwords or unlocking your devices.
4. Don't contact the other person involved in the case.
5. Write down what happened during any search: who came, what they took, and what they said.
6. If there is a warrant for your arrest, we can often arrange a surrender. See Turning Yourself In. For release conditions, which in these cases can include internet and device restrictions, see Bond & Nebbia Hearings.
7. Call us.

Why Choose Dennis Gonzalez Law, P.A.

• Former Miami-Dade prosecutor.
• Defending people since 2012 in state and federal court.
• Super Lawyers recognition and an Avvo Rating of 10.0.
• Bilingual office — se habla español.
• We answer 24 hours a day. Call (305) 209-0384.

You can read about some of our past cases on our Results page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Police took my phone. Can I get it back?

Sometimes, but not quickly. A device used in a computer-crime offense can be subject to forfeiture under Florida law. A lawyer can address the device and whether the search was lawful.

I logged into an account I used to have access to. Is that a crime?

It can be charged that way. Florida's law covers access that is unauthorized or that exceeds authorization. Whether your access was authorized, and what you knew about it, is often the central question.

Is "revenge porn" a felony in Florida?

A first offense is usually a first-degree misdemeanor. It becomes a felony with one prior conviction, or when it is done for money.

Should I delete messages before the police see them?

No. Destroying evidence to keep it from an investigation you know is pending or about to begin is a separate felony in Florida. Leave everything alone and call a lawyer.

Can the police get my iCloud or Google account?

Investigators often seek warrants or legal process directed at the provider. Whether that process was lawful, and what it actually covered, is something we review in every case.

How fast can you help?

Our office answers 24 hours a day. Call (305) 209-0384.