Lawyers: Indicted Gaetz associate expected to plead guilty
ORLANDO, Fla. — A former local official in Florida who faces an array of federal charges, including a sex trafficking count, is expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks, a prosecutor and a defense lawyer said Thursday in an indication the defendant could cooperate as a key witness against Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is under investigation.
A plea by Joel Greenberg could significantly strengthen the Justice Department’s hand as it investigates Gaetz and others who met Greenberg through Florida Republican politics and are being scrutinized on potential sex trafficking violations.
Greenberg met women through a website that connects people who are willing to go on dates in exchange for gifts and allowances, then introduced them to Gaetz, who along with
Greenberg had sex with them, people familiar with the matter have said.
The prosecutor, Roger Handberg, made the disclosure about Greenberg’s case at a brief status hearing at the federal courthouse in Orlando, as did Greenberg’s lawyer, Fritz Scheller. Greenberg had been scheduled to go on trial in June, but both sides set a May 15 deadline for a plea deal.
Neither said whether Greenberg would agree to cooperate with the government’s open investigation. Greenberg, 36, is likely to face 12 years in prison and legal experts said that if Greenberg had any hope of reducing that sentence, he would have to cooperate with the Justice Department.
Greenberg did not appear in court Thursday.
Greenberg, who has known Gaetz since at least 2017 when he began serving in Congress, could provide prosecutors with a witness who has knowledge of Gaetz’s dealings with women, can explain how the men paid the women and how the two men bought and used drugs.
Greenberg ran for tax collector in Seminole County, near Orlando, in 2016. He depicted himself as a crusading outsider.
In August, Greenberg was indicted on a count of sex trafficking a 17-year-old in 2017. Around that time, the Justice Department began investigating Gaetz’s ties to the same girl.