![]() Two women who attended parties with Greenberg and Gaetz previously told CNN that the men also regularly socialized together at sex parties in the Orlando area that featured local political figures, young women, Venmo payments, alcohol, and drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy. He and Gaetz were political allies who were seen as rising stars in Republican circles in Florida. ![]() He resigned in 2020 after being charged with nearly three dozen federal crimes, including allegations that he paid for sex with an underage girl. Greenberg was elected in 2016 to serve as tax collector for Seminole County, in the Orlando suburbs. Greenberg has been behind bars since March 2021 and wore a blue jail uniform during his court appearance on Wednesday. The plea deal significantly lowered Greenberg’s potential prison term, and prosecutors asked the judge for a sentence between roughly nine and 11 years behind bars.īut the judge indicated Wednesday that he is considering a punishment longer than that range, which he described as “questionable.” He will announce the sentence at a hearing Thursday. Greenberg pleaded guilty last year to sex trafficking, wire fraud, stalking, identity theft and several other crimes. In recent weeks, Justice Department officials have told lawyers for people who could face legal exposure in the sex-trafficking probe that there is no update on the status of the case. The judge said it was “concerning” that there are “extensive investigations ongoing with no end in sight.” He didn’t explicitly mention Gaetz. “The government has had a lot of time to conclude those investigations,” District Judge Gregory Presnell said at a hearing Wednesday about how much credit Greenberg deserves for helping prosecutors. The probe began in late 2020, and CNN reported in September that prosecutors recommended against an indictment, though senior Justice Department officials get to make the final call – and it’s unclear if that decision has been made. Gaetz denied ever paying for sex or having sex with a minor, and no charges have been filed against Gaetz. As part of his plea deal, Greenberg cooperated extensively with prosecutors, including by providing information about Gaetz related to the sex-trafficking probe, a source familiar with the case previously told CNN. The Gaetz associate, former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, has pleaded guilty to underage sex trafficking and five other felonies, and is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in Orlando. Matt Gaetz’s former associates, saying the probes have “no end in sight.” A federal judge scolded the Justice Department on Wednesday over what he characterized as slow-moving investigations during a hearing for one of GOP Rep.
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