Judge: Former Seminole tax collector to stay in jail
Greenberg was arrested on curfew violation
Former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg — who faces several federal felony charges, including stalking, identity theft and sex trafficking of a minor — was ordered by a federal magistrate on Wednesday to remain in the Seminole County Jail after he was arrested for a bond violation a day earlier.
U.S. Magistrate Embry Kidd said Greenberg violated his 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew early Sunday when he left Central Florida and was later stopped by Jupiter police during an unspecified incident.
Greenberg — who wore a red jail jumpsuit and had his wrists and ankles shackled in court — frowned and bowed his head after the judge’s ruling.
He was arrested at his Lake Mary home by U.S. Marshals and
Seminole Sheriff ’s deputies and booked into the county jail at 2:30 a.m.
Before the ruling, Greenberg and his attorney Fritz Scheller were engaged in what appeared to be a heated conversation.
Greenberg kept shaking his head no, and could be heard saying: “Can I address the court?” Scheller
quickly responded: “Do not talk.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg told Kidd that Greenberg left his Lake Mary home just before 5 a.m. on Sunday, according to a tracking device on an ankle monitor Greenberg was required to wear.
By traveling to South Florida, Greenberg also violated a condition of his bond release that he not leave the court’s Middle District of Florida, which includes Jacksonville, Ocala, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers, Handberg said.
Scheller stated in court that the former tax collector had gone to South Florida to visit family. Outside the courthouse, Scheller gave few details on the incident that involved Jupiter Police officers and called Greenberg’s arrest “a technical violation.”
Scheller said that the curfew restrictions have taken a toll on Greenberg, and his client is not happy to be going back to jail.
The curfew “sounds really easy. But it’s not,” Scheller said outside the courthouse. “I don’t think anyone is thrilled to be in the Seminole County Jail .... It’s a very difficult and emotional process. But we’ll get through it.”
Greenberg, who resigned on June 25, the day after he was first arrested by U.S. Marshals at his home, is awaiting trial, which is scheduled for mid-June on the 14 federal charges. These include allegations that he stalked a political opponent and illegally used a state database to create fake IDs.
Greenberg was released without bond soon after he was arrested last year, but he was required under a court order to wear an ankle monitor.
Greenberg’s trial is scheduled for early June. Kidd said that Greenberg could request a future court hearing that would decide whether he can be re-released to await trial.
Last Friday, Scheller asked a federal judge to modify the conditions of Greenberg’s release. However, it’s unclear why Greenberg wants the restrictions lessened because his attorney asked the judge that the reason for the request be kept confidential. Federal prosecutors did not oppose the request, according to court records.
Scheller did not provide any details on Wednesday.
“I can’t answer that. It’s confidential,” he said.
LOS ANGELES — On a TV show Betty White hosted 50 years ago, the perpetual charmer flirts with James Brolin, teases Della Reese and trades quips with Carol Burnett.
But White appears most delighted in the company of the real stars of “Betty White’s Pet Set,” among them elephants, lions and snakes. And dogs, lots of dogs.
“All I can say is, Charlie Brown is right: Happiness is a warm puppy,” a beaming White says in one episode, cuddling a pair of tiny brown pooches.
She and her husband, the late game show host Allen Ludden, produced the 39-episode series (originally titled “The Pet Set”) that aired in syndication in 1971 and was released recently on DVD and streaming and digital platforms after a laborious restoration process.
Making the show was strictly a labor of love for the Emmy-winning star of “The
Golden Girls” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” who, at age 99, has retained her affection and compassion for animals.
“When Allen and I started our own production company so many years ago, the one show I wanted to do was ‘The Pet Set,’ ” White said in an interview. “Allen’s offices were the most exciting in the building because we were the only show prescreening guests who were furry and four-legged.”
“What a time! It remains one of my favorite shows even 50 years later,” White said.
White, a longtime advocate for animal well-being and conservation, reveled in doing a show with her husband and friends that focused on her passion for animals, said TV producer and distributor Darren Wadyko, whose company shepherded the rerelease.
Her celebrity pals were invited to bring their pets and get the chance to meet wild animals — sometimes to the guest’s dismay. Reese (“Touched by an Angel”) looked askance at White when she tried to coax her closer to a leopard, and Jim Nabors (“Gomer Pyle”) did likewise when a snake was involved.
Burnett initially hesitated when called on for the messy task of bottle-feeding a baby elephant, but then the formula and the quips flow. “These Playtex Nursers, you can’t beat ’em,” she says.
White, however, was fearless, especially in encounters filmed at a Southern California training compound that provided animals for TV and movies. At one point, she’s seen snuggling with a 500-pound lion.
Other guests include Doris Day, Mary Tyler Moore, Burt Reynolds, Michael Landon and game show host Peter Marshall, who was interviewed for a documentary about the series that’s part of the DVD set.
“It’s fun to look back that many years, and how pretty we all were,” Marshall said with a laugh.
The show’s revival began
Actress and animal activist Betty White with a lion from her 1970s series “Betty White’s Pet Set,” which has been restored. when White’s longtime agent, Jeff Witjas, asked Wadyko if he could locate the episodes. After what Wadyko termed “a virtual Indiana Jones expedition,” it turned out copies were housed at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills and in White’s own Los Angeles-area home.
The tapes were restored, digitized and color-corrected, with the final version cobbling together the best parts of each set to create a pristine version, Wadyko said, a process that took more than six months.
The series is available on streaming platforms Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, Fandango Now, with more platforms expected to be added.