Gaetz associate works toward deal with prosecutors
An associate of Rep. Matt Gaetz’s is working toward a plea deal with federal prosecutors investigating a sex trafficking operation, potentially escalating the legal and political jeopardy facing the Florida congressman.
The revelation that a political ally of Gaetz’s, Joel Greenberg, is seeking to strike a plea deal with investigators came during a hearing Thursday at federal court in Orlando.
“I am sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,” Fritz Scheller, a lawyer for Greenberg, said after the hearing.
Federal prosecutors are examining whether Gaetz and Greenberg paid underage girls or offered them gifts in exchange for sex, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. Gaetz has denied the allegations and insists he will not resign his seat in Congress.
A call to the congressman’s cellphone Thursday yielded a message that he was not accepting calls.
When asked directly if Greenberg, a former local tax collector outside Orlando, was cooperating with prosecutors on the Gaetz case, Scheller cited attorney-client privilege. But he said Greenberg ’s cooperation would likely be contingent on whether it was required by prosecutors to get a plea deal.
Scheller also refused to answer when asked if Greenberg had any incriminating evidence against Gaetz.
Greenberg ’s legal problems began last summer when he was arrested on charges of stalking a political opponent. Greenberg mailed fake letters to his opponent’s school signed by a nonexistent “very concerned student” who alleged the opponent had engaged in sexual misconduct with another student, according to an indictment from last June.
Last August, Greenberg was charged with sex trafficking a girl between ages 14 and 17 and using a state database to look up information about the girl and other people with whom he was engaged in “sugar daddy” relationships, according to an indictment.
Additional charges accusing Greenberg of embezzling $400,000 from the Seminole County Tax Collector’s office were added last month, according to the indictment.