Greenberg resigns day after charges
Seminole official indicted in theft of identity, stalking
Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg resigned on Wednesday evening, a day after federal authorities unsealed an indictment charging him with stalking and identity theft.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to name an interim tax collector “in the very near future,” said attorney Brian Bieber, a partner with Gray Robinson law firm, which represents the Tax Collector’s Office.
Greenberg’s term was set to end in December.
In the meantime, Cynthia Torres, Seminole’s deputy tax collector, will take over the top role, Bieber said.
Greenberg spent Wednesday cleaning out his office and submitted his resignation letter to DeSantis at 5 p.m., officials said.
“The tax collector as an entity has not been accused of committing or participating in any criminal activity whatsoever,” Bieber said.
Federal authorities surprised Greenberg at his Heathrow home early Tuesday morning and arrested him on charges from the June 17 grand jury indictment. Later that morning, he appeared in federal court in handcuffs and shackles on charges that he stalked a political opponent, a teacher, by falsely accusing him of sexual misconduct with a student in letters sent to the school where the opponent works.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg said in court on Tuesday that Greenberg’s DNA and fingerprints were found on nine letters sent to the school where his opponent works.
A fake Twitter account set up using the victim’s name and photo, and also a fake Facebook account that said it belonged to a another teacher, was traced back to an IP address in Greenberg’s home, prosecutors said.
The victim, Brian Beute, is a fine arts teacher at Trinity Preparatory School, who is challenging Greenberg in the Republican primary scheduled for Aug. 18, according to his attorney, David Bear. It was unclear Wednesday evening whether Greenberg will stay in the race.
Bear said Greenberg’s resignation is good news for Seminole County.
“His resignation is incredibly appropriate and good for the citizens as they no longer have to be subject to the whims of someone with perverse morals,” Bear said.
Between Oct. 10 and Nov. 15, according to the unsealed indictment, Greenberg mailed the letters to Trinity Prep that claimed to be written by students. School officials first turned the letters over to the Seminole Sheriff ’s Office. But investigators determined that the letters were actually written by an adult and not a student. Because the letters were delivered though the U.S. Mail, the case was turned over to federal investigators with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
Greenberg, 35, who was elected in November 2016, has faced a number of controversies since taking office in January 2017.
He turned on the flashing white lights of his SUV and pulled over a Lake Mary woman in December 2017, telling her to stop speeding while wearing his office’s badge that resembled a law enforcement badge. The state attorney did not bring charges against Greenberg but called his actions “inappropriate.”
A month later, Greenberg hid behind bushes and asked a Lake Mary police officer for “professional courtesy” as an elected official while trying to talk his way out of a speeding ticket.
Greenberg, who often wore a tax collector’s badge and openly carries a firearm, allowed his employees to strap guns to their waist soon after taking office. In January 2019, then Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office said in a nonbinding opinion that because neither Greenberg nor his employees are lawenforcement officers, they should not openly carry firearms while on the job.
And a Sentinel investigation in October 2019 revealed that Greenberg gave $3.5 million in consulting contracts to friends, business partners, campaign associates and members of his wedding party.