Federal prosecutors have dropped 27 charges against Matt Gaetz’s wingman in exchange for his cooperation and testimony in their ongoing sex trafficking investigation into the Republican Congressman.
Joel Greenberg had been facing 33 counts with a maximum of life behind bars but his plea deal, filed on Friday, reveals he has reached a deal to plead guilty to just six of those charges; sex trafficking a child, using a fake ID, identity theft, wire fraud, stalking and conspiring to commit a crime against the US.
The plea deal doesn’t specify what he’ll be sentenced to but it does confirm he will cooperate with the ongoing investigation into Gaetz, and testify at court if necessary.
The most severe charge he will plead to is sex trafficking, which has a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison.
The charges that have been dropped include four domestic violence charges, one sex trafficking charge, nine fraud charges, bribing a public official, and a range of lesser identity theft and fraud charges.
Prosecutors say depending on how much he assists them going forward, they’ll recommend various levels of leniency when it comes to Greenberg’s sentencing.
Greenberg, a disgraced tax collector, also has to forfeit $650,000. He was arrested last year and immediately started telling the feds about Gaetz and how they ‘sex trafficked’ together to get himself a deal.
It wasn’t clear that it had worked for him until now.
In March, it was revealed that Gaetz is under investigation for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl and trafficking her across state lines.
Investigators are also looking into allegations he paid women for ecstasy-fueled sex at Florida hotels after being introduced to them by Greenberg.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied having sex with a 17-year-old and said he has never paid for sex.
For prosecutors to agree to reduce the charges from a staggering 33 to just six indicates that Greenberg has handed over information that is of significant value, legal experts told Business Insider today.
Sherine Ebadi, a former FBI agent who worked on the case against the former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, said she expects Gaetz will be ‘concerned’ about Greenberg’s plans.
‘What Gaetz would be concerned about is if there’s a cooperation agreement in this matter that involves the defendant flipping on him,’ she said.
‘That gets scary for co-conspirators because they know someone who’s either aware of their crimes or someone they co-conspired with is now working with the government.’
Greenberg was first arrested on charges of identity theft and stalking a political opponent last June.
An indictment alleged he mailed fake letters to his opponent’s school claiming sexual misconduct.
The federal investigation into him spiraled and was charged with sex trafficking a girl between the ages of 14 and 17.
In March he was further charged with embezzling $400,000 from the Seminole County tax collector’s office and fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief loans, taking his total charges up to 33 felony counts.
It has since emerged that Greenberg has been cooperating with federal prosecutors since December.
In April, sources said he had been begging prosecutors to cut him a plea deal in exchange for turning over information on Gaetz.
He has reportedly told investigators that both he and Gaetz gave women cash and gifts in exchange for sex.
‘I’m sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,’ Greenberg’s attorney told reporters last month.
Gaetz has sought legal representation as the investigation into him appears to be ramping up.
This week, sources said DOJ investigators were trying to flip a former Capitol Hill intern who is the ex-girlfriend of Gaetz.
The ex-girlfriend, who is not being named publicly, was on a trip Gaetz took to the Bahamas in 2018 that allegedly involved drug use and arrangements with women, including paying them for sex.
It first emerged in March that Gaetz was under investigation by the DOJ for allegedly sex trafficking a minor.
The minor is said to be the same 17-year-old girl at the center of the charges against Greenberg.
Investigators are said to be looking into payments made by Greenberg to young women and the 17-year-old girl through Venmo, and claims that Gaetz also paid women for sex via payment apps.
The probe into the congressman is said to have rise out of the DOJ investigation into Greenberg and the close ties between the two men.
Sources close to the DOJ probe said last month that Gaetz was expected to be indicted as soon as a matter of weeks after the 17-year-old testified before a Florida grand jury saying she had sex with him before she reached the state’s age of consent, which is 18.
Greenberg allegedly confessed in a letter to Donald Trump ally Roger Stone that the pair paid for sex with the 17-year-old girl in a bid to get a pardon from the then-President.
‘On more than one occasion, [the 17-year-old] was involved in sexual activities with several of the other girls, the congressman from Florida’s 1st Congressional District and myself,’ Greenberg reportedly wrote in the letter.
One message said to have been sent by Greenberg to Stone allegedly said he was pressured to ‘flip’ and cooperate with prosecutors.
Gaetz’s wider actions in congress have also come under close scrutiny in recent weeks, with claims he showed off nude photos of women he said he had slept with to other lawmakers on the House floor and that he played a sleazy Harry Potter themed sex game scoring points for sleeping with married colleagues, virgins and in sorority houses.
It has also been claimed that he regularly attended gated community house parties with other Republican lawmakers where cellphones were handed over at the door and the ‘frat party boy’ Florida representative would discuss politics while popping pills.
Meanwhile, as well as the federal investigation, the House Ethics Committee has also launched an inquiry into a string of allegations including ‘sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct.’
Gaetz denies all allegations and has insisted he will not resign.
In a bizarre twist in the saga, the lawmaker has instead claimed he is the victim of an elaborate extortion plot by a former Justice Department official seeking to free an American hostage from Iran.