Mr. Foley enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves as an infantryman when he was 17, and while serving he studied Sociology and Criminal Justice at Rhode Island College. He became a commissioned officer while in the Reserves, and after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1986, he served on active duty with the Army. Mr. Foley’s first stop was to flight school in Fort Rucker, Alabama. He graduated flight school in 1987 and was assigned to fly the (then) border between East and West Germany. He served in West Germany for three years, and upon being promoted to Captain, he was reassigned back to Fort Rucker as an instructor pilot where he taught prospective aviators basic and advanced combat flying skills and night and night vision goggle emergency flying procedures. During Mr. Foley’s time in the Army he was an aviator, paratrooper, and he was Air Assault qualified. Mr. Foley was awarded an Overseas Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal (Persian Gulf), two Army Commendation Medals, and a Meritorious Service Medal. He completed his military service in 1992.

In 1990, Mr. Foley received a Master of Science in Business Administration from Boston University. In 1992, he began his legal studies at New England Law/Boston. He graduated from law school and became a member of the Massachusetts Bar in 1995.

In 1996, Mr. Foley became an FBI Special Agent Attorney. After graduating from the FBI Academy, he served in Bridgeport, Connecticut; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Tucson and Yuma, Arizona; Louisville, Kentucky; Detroit, Michigan; Washington D.C. and Fort Myers, Florida. During his 20-year career with the FBI, Mr. Foley investigated drug trafficking organizations, violent gangs, white-collar criminals, and corrupt public officials and terrorists. He served in a variety of investigative and management positions including as an attorney in the FBI’s Office of General Counsel, Special Agent in Charge at the Washington Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office. While the Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Office, an assignment he considers the highlight of his career, Mr. Foley led over 600 special agents, intelligence analysts, task force officers, and support staff in the conduct of all FBI counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cyber, and criminal investigations within the state of Michigan. He was responsible as chief executive and final authority for all operational, legal, compliance, HR, audit, financial, facilities, and logistical matters for the Detroit headquarters’ field office and its 11 sub-offices.

As an FBI Special Agent, Mr. Foley has been the case agent on numerous investigations involving violent gangs, drug trafficking, police corruption, and complex white-collar cases. In Bridgeport, Connecticut he led a multi-jurisdictional Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) in a long-term wire-tap case resulting in the federal conviction of 21 drug traffickers. In San Juan, Puerto Rico he was a case agent on a year-long police corruption undercover investigation entitled “Operacion Honor Perdido” (Operation Lost Honor) resulting in the federal conviction of 29 police officers for cocaine trafficking. As the Special Agent in Charge in Detroit, Mr. Foley supervised high-profile corruption cases including a case against the Mayor of Detroit and a case against a Michigan Supreme Court justice. Both were convicted. In Fort Myers, Florida, he teamed up with the Commodities and Futures Trade Commission and targeted a wealth management company for securities violations. The principal of that company was convicted of fraud and received a 6-year federal sentence.

In addition, while with the FBI, Mr. Foley held a number of collateral positions including as a police instructor, teaching corruption investigative techniques in Budapest and Bangkok; he was a member of the FBI SWAT Team; he served as an FBI firearms instructor; and he was an FBI fixed-wing surveillance pilot and tactical helicopter pilot. During his career, Mr. Foley utilized virtually all of the sophisticated investigative techniques available, including infiltrating informants, high-risk search warrants, drug-buys and reverses, wire-taps, under-cover operations, and complex forensic accounting. In his capacity as a Special Agent Attorney and legal advisor, he has served on the FBI Headquarters Criminal Undercover Operations Committee, the FBI’s Shooting Review Group, FBI Compliance Inspection Teams, and he served as legal counsel to the FBI Headquarters Asset and Informant Unit. Mr. Foley proudly retired from the FBI in 2016.

As an FBI Special Agent Attorney for 20 years, Mr. Foley learned how to piece together complex criminal cases. He presented a countless number of these cases to federal prosecutors and 100% of the cases indicted resulted in a conviction. Mr. Foley brings this skill to his clients’ defense. He knows how complex criminal investigations are built. He knows how to reverse engineer these cases. He knows where to look, what to focus on, common issues and problems, and how to identify flaws, weaknesses, and holes. As a former state prosecutor, Mr. Foley was in the courtroom almost every day. From that experience, he developed the trial skills only a former prosecutor can obtain. He had an average caseload of about 400 cases. Because he knows how cases are tried, he knows how they are defended. Now, as a defense attorney, Mr. Foley’s experience as an FBI Agent and as an assistant state attorney provides a combination of skills his clients will not find anywhere else. He is an experienced criminal defense trial attorney in Southwest Florida. His office, the Robert Foley Law Firm, P.A., is an established criminal practice located in Fort Myers Florida. From that office, Mr. Foley handles Lee County criminal defense cases. In addition, he practices in partnership with seasoned veteran defense attorney Sean O’Halloran in Charlotte County in the criminal defense firm of O’Halloran and Foley, located in Punta Gorda, Florida.

Mr. Foley served 20 years as an FBI Special Agent including as the Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office and as an Attorney in the FBI’s Office of General Counsel, Investigative Law Unit. In addition, he is a former State prosecutor. His experience provides clients with a unique and unmatched combination of skills. He is also a fluent Spanish speaker.