Gaetz ally expected to plead guilty, cooperate with investigators in sex-trafficking probe
A one-time close ally of Rep. Matt Gaetz, former Florida Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, will plead guilty to multiple federal crimes including sex trafficking of a minor, and has agreed to cooperate with federal investigators, according to court papers filed on Friday.
Greenberg does not directly name Gaetz in the papers, but he admitted that he and others who are not identified in the document had paid a 17-year-old girl for sex and that he "introduced the minor to other adult men, who engaged in commercial sex acts."
Greenberg will plead guilty to six of 33 federal charges he was facing, but the government states they reserve the right to prosecute him on the other charges if he violates any terms of the cooperation deal.
He will plead to charges of stalking, identity theft, wire fraud, and conspiracy to bribe a public official, as well as the sex trafficking charge, according to the documents.
Greenberg is set to appear at a "change of plea" hearing Monday morning in federal court in Orlando.
Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, including having sex with an underage girl.
