The walls are closing in on GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, and he must be terrified. That’s because Gaetz’s sex-trafficking associate Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector for Seminole County, Florida, is set to plead guilty in his own federal case and is reportedly cooperating with authorities as they build a case against the Florida lawmaker, according to a court entry viewed by the Washington Post.
Greenberg is most likely going to turn on his slimeball friend and break down how the two men “would pay women for sex using cash or gifts,” the Post reports.
On Thursday, a federal court in Orlando scheduled a “change of plea hearing” in Greenberg’s case for Monday, indicating he has reached such a deal.
The specifics of Greenberg’s plea were not immediately filed in court, and it was not immediately clear to what specific charges and facts he would admit, or what benefit he would receive for doing so. Plea deals do not necessarily require defendants to cooperate — though doing so is one of the best ways they have to reduce their ultimate sentence, and Greenberg already had been providing investigators with information about Gaetz in hopes of leniency. The deal still must be accepted by a federal judge.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Middle District of Florida, which has been handling the Greenberg case, declined to comment beyond the court entry, as did Greenberg’s attorney. A representative for Gaetz did not immediately respond to a message.
“I’m sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,” Fritz Scheller, Greenberg’s defense attorney, told the Post.
Greenberg now faces a 33-count indictment that includes sex trafficking of a minor and stealing from the tax office that once employed him.
Gaetz has adamantly denied paying for sex, or having sex with a minor.
