How Attorney Ron Frey Came to Defend Internet and Computer Crime Cases

If you are reading this, there is a good chance something has already happened. Maybe agents knocked on the door with a warrant, a laptop and phone were taken, or a letter arrived from a federal prosecutor. You are trying to figure out who you can trust with what comes next.

You should know who you are calling. Here is how Attorney Ron Frey became an internet crime defense attorney, a path that began more than two decades ago in Ohio, at a time when much of the legal world still ran on paper, and led to a national practice now based in Tampa, Florida. (His full credentials are on his attorney profile.)

A Law Clerk in Cleveland When the Prosecutions Began

In the early 2000s, while still in law school, Attorney Ron Frey clerked at a criminal defense firm in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, which includes Cleveland. Around that time, county and federal authorities formed a joint task force to investigate and aggressively prosecute online activity. The task force was well funded and closely coordinated. Many of its cases traced back to peer-to-peer file-sharing programs such as LimeWire, the music-sharing program so many people used at the time.

The result was a steady stream of arrests across Northeast Ohio, and Cuyahoga County became one of the most active jurisdictions in the country for these prosecutions. As a clerk, he worked on the defense of numerous clients in those early cases.

When Courts Still Ran on Paper

It is hard to picture now how unfamiliar the internet was to the justice system then. Many attorneys researched in law books rather than Westlaw. Offices relied on fax machines and pagers. A letter to opposing counsel was often printed, signed, and handed to a bicycle courier, and filings were carried to the clerk’s office the same way. Plenty of lawyers had AOL email addresses, few firms had websites, and clients still found attorneys in the yellow pages.

Attorney Ron Frey was part of the younger generation that used the internet on a more regular basis in general, and he was fluent in its terminology. In that courtroom culture, the online world was obscure and a little frightening, and people charged with internet crimes were often cast as criminal masterminds or hackers. The reality was ordinary. Many of the people charged were ordinary users of peer-to-peer programs that, although they seemed complex, were generally very simple and were used by millions to download music at the time. Those users ended up as the targets of investigations.

“Back then, most people had never heard of a file-sharing program, and most people were barely using the internet at all. The client was described as a hacker, when what he’d actually done was install a simple program that millions of people were using to download music. Closing that gap was the first job.”

Licensed in 2004, and Learning Something New Every Day

After earning his law license in 2004, Attorney Ron Frey moved from research and support to representing clients himself. He handled cases from the investigation stage through resolution and, when needed, on appeal.

Almost every day in those years went to learning how the investigations actually worked, much of what happens after police seize a computer: the methods law enforcement used, the software that monitored peer-to-peer networks, and the forensic tools used to examine seized computers. Then came the work of building a defense around those facts and challenging the claims the prosecution made. New theories of prosecution and defense came up constantly, the technology kept changing, and investigators kept adjusting their techniques.

The questions he worked through then are still at the center of these cases:

• The Fourth Amendment. Was the search lawful, and was the warrant supported?
• The investigative software. Was it authenticated? Did it function the way the government said it did?
• The investigation itself. Did agents follow proper procedures, or did they cut corners?

Just as important was helping courts understand mitigation, meaning the human story behind a case, which is often lost when the evidence is all files and log entries.

A Resource for Other Lawyers

As a result of his experience, Attorney Ron Frey was called upon by lawyers and law firms around the country to consult on cases, serve as co-counsel, and represent clients facing charges involving alleged online activity, including cases involving computers, the internet, or data storage devices. He also began teaching. He presented continuing legal education (CLE) seminars throughout Ohio for local bar associations and criminal defense lawyer groups. Nationally, he taught for associations of criminal defense lawyers in Utah, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Alabama, and elsewhere, and he assisted other presenters at programs as far away as San Francisco.

Teaching led to writing. Attorney Ron Frey is a published author of a number of articles for various publications, including criminal defense association magazines, as well as a book. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Ursuline College, teaching a number of classes, including courses on computers and the law, digital evidence, and constitutional law. Members of the media have called on him numerous times for commentary, insight, and perspective.

Courts Across the Country

As the cases spread, so did the practice. Attorney Ron Frey is licensed in Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida. He has also appeared pro hac vice (permission to handle a specific case in a court where a lawyer isn’t otherwise admitted) and represented clients in many other jurisdictions. A representative sample includes federal courts in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, the Southern District of New York, the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio, New Orleans, Montana, and the Middle and Southern Districts of Florida, the federal appeals court in Miami, and courts in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, among many more.

Some cases are in state court and some are in federal court, and some could go either way (see Computer / Internet Crimes in Both State and Federal Court). Each new court meant a different prosecutor’s office, different local practices, and a different set of investigators. Every one of those cases added to a base of experience about how these investigations are built and how they can be challenged.

From Ohio to Florida

Cleveland was only the beginning. As more of the cases and matters he handled came from outside Ohio, the practice shifted with them, and Attorney Ron Frey became licensed in North Carolina and Florida. Today his primary practice is in Florida, based in Tampa. He still handles cases around the country, including on a pro hac vice basis, and he remains licensed in Ohio and North Carolina.

Why That History Matters for Your Case Today

Twenty-two years ago, internet evidence was a niche issue. Today the internet is in nearly everything, from the phone in your pocket to the refrigerator in your kitchen. As a result, digital evidence turns up in almost every criminal case, not just the ones labeled “internet crime.” You need a lawyer who knows how to handle it.

Attorney Ron Frey has handled many cases where digital evidence is at issue. (Our internet crime defense overview covers the charges.) Those include allegations of online fraud, possession of prohibited files or other contraband, cryptocurrency transactions, and hacking. Across all of them, the same issues come up again and again:

• Search and seizure: how the evidence was obtained, and whether that was lawful
• Authentication: whether the data is what the government says it is
• Chain of custody: who handled the devices and data, and how
• Possession: whether the files were actually under the person’s control
• Knowledge and intent: what the person actually knew, as opposed to what a computer happened to store

“I don’t have to reinvent the wheel on these cases. I know the terminology, I know what questions to ask, and I usually know early on what a case’s strengths and weaknesses may be, because I’ve seen how these investigations are put together.”

Now the cycle is repeating with artificial intelligence. Much like the internet in the early 2000s, AI is a technology many lawyers have not adopted and much of the public does not yet understand. Most courts are still learning what it can and cannot do, even as prosecutors build cases around AI tools and the way people use them. Attorney Ron Frey has been through this kind of shift before, and that history is directly relevant to the new wave of AI-related cases.

Experience doesn’t change the facts of a case, and no lawyer can promise an outcome. What experience does is save time and keep important issues from being missed while it still matters. In a digital evidence case, that is often the difference between reacting to the government’s version of events and testing it. Help from an internet crime defense attorney tends to matter most early, often before any charge is filed, for example after a federal target letter.

For Attorney Ron Frey’s Florida practice in Hillsborough, Pinellas, and the federal courts, see his FreyLegal.com profile.

Talk With Attorney Ron Frey

If you would like to speak with an experienced criminal defense lawyer about an internet, computer, or digital evidence investigation or charge, in state or federal court, or you have further questions, don’t hesitate to contact Attorney Ron Frey of The Frey Law Firm, LLC, wherever you are. Your consultation is free and confidential. You can talk with us by phone, by video, or at our Tampa office, and when the situation calls for it, we can come to you.

Call or text (813) 775-2276. Rapid response, 24/7.

This page is for general information only. It is not legal advice, and reading it or contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Laws involving internet and computer crime are changing quickly and vary by jurisdiction, and how they apply depends on the facts of each case and on how courts interpret them. Please don’t rely on this page, or on any other information online, to make decisions about your situation. Talk with a lawyer.