Matt Gaetz's 'wingman' Joel Greenberg pleads guilty to six charges including sex trafficking of a minor - in plea deal that spells trouble for the Republican congressman
Matt Gaetz's wingman pleaded guilty to charges including sex-trafficking of a minor at a court hearing Monday in a deal to cooperate with prosecutors, which may spell trouble for the Republican congressman.
Joel Greenberg, a former tax collector in Florida's Seminole County, is central to the federal probe into whether Representative Gaetz trafficked a minor for sex.
Greenberg said he would cooperate with federal prosecutors and admitted to introducing the minor he trafficked to other adult men who engaged in sex acts with the minor in Greenberg's presence, court papers showed.
The papers did not identify the other adult men. Gaetz has not been charged with any crimes and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
But Greenberg, who is married, is thought to be ready to accuse Gaetz of paying prostitute Megan Zalonka after a cocaine-fueled party at a Trump fundraiser.
Greenberg, a longtime associate of Gaetz, appeared in federal court in Orlando Monday. He had been held in custody since March.
He pleaded guilty to six of the nearly three dozen charges he faced, including sex trafficking of a minor, and he admitted that he had paid at least one underage girl to have sex with him and other men.
The plea deal marks a turning point in the sprawling federal investigation that has roiled Florida politics and ensnared Gaetz, 39, one of former President Donald Trump's staunchest defenders in Congress.
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.
On Friday federal prosecutors dropped 27 charges against Gaetz's alleged wingman, Joel Greenberg, in exchange for his cooperation and testimony
Roger Stone, Matt Gaetz and Joel Greenberg pictured in a selfie together in 2017
Investigators are seeking to determine whether Gaetz had sex with the same 17-year-old Greenberg was accused of trafficking, according to news reports and a law enforcement source who spoke with Reuters.
Greenberg's lawyer, Fritz Scheller, suggested to reporters last month that Greenberg cooperating with federal investigators could have implications for Gaetz.
Gaetz told an Ohio rally Saturday he is 'being falsely accused of exchanging money for naughty favors' after his alleged wingman agreed to cooperate with federal investigators in their ongoing child sex trafficking investigation.
The Republican congressman also compared controversial earmarks - which allow funding for House members' personal projects - to the probe, NBC reports.
Gaetz told the crowd Saturday: 'I'm being falsely accused of exchanging money for naughty favors.
'Yet, Congress has reinstituted a process that legalizes the corrupt act of exchanging money for favors, through earmarks, and everybody knows that that's the corruption.'
He received a standing ovation for his keynote speech to around 400 Republicans at the Ohio Political Summit. A number of Republican candidates are reported to have backed out of the event due to Gaetz's involvement.
Megan Zalonka (right) is pictured with Gaetz, who is said to have snorted cocaine and had sex with her
A new report last week said Gaetz snorted cocaine and had sex with an escort who was paid taxpayers money for a separate role that involved no work.
Megan Zalonka, an escort and amateur Instagram model, was Gaetz's date in October 2019 at the Trump Defender Gala in Orlando.
She is said to have been paid up to $15,000 of taxpayers money by Greenberg after he hired her for a social media manager job in Seminole County, Florida, that did not require Zalonka to do any work, a new report claims.
After the gala, an after-party was held in Gaetz's hotel room, The Daily Beast reported.
Zalonka, 28, chopped up lines of cocaine, which she and Gaetz took together, a new report claims.
Two sources told the site that Zalonka and the Florida congressman had an ongoing financial relationship in exchange for sex. However, the Daily Beast could not confirm that Zalonka and Gaetz had sex the night of the gala.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) walks with his fiancee Ginger Luckey in January. Investigators are seeking to determine whether Gaetz had sex with the same 17-year-old Greenberg was accused of trafficking, according to news reports and a law enforcement source who spoke with Reuters
The United States Federal Court House in Orlando. Joel Greenberg, a longtime associate of Gaetz, appeared in federal court in Orlando. He pleaded guilty to six of the nearly three dozen charges he faced, including sex trafficking of a minor, and he admitted that he had paid at least one underage girl to have sex with him and other men
'I'm sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,' attorney Scheller said in April, after a court hearing where prosecutors signaled a plea deal was imminent.
When the news of Greenberg's impending guilty plea broke on Thursday, Gaetz spokesman Harlan Hill questioned Greenberg's credibility.
'The first indictment of Joel Greenberg alleges that he falsely accused another man of sex with a minor for his own gain. That man was apparently innocent. So is congressman Gaetz,' said Hill.
As part of his plea agreement, Greenberg admitted that he recruited women for commercial sex acts and paid them more than $70,000 from 2016 to 2018, including at least one underage girl he paid to have sex with him and others.
Prosecutors say Greenberg met the girl online - from a website where she was posing as an adult - and had a first meeting with her on a boat, paying her $400.
He later invited her to a hotels in Florida, where he and others would have sex with her and also supplied the girl and other people with ecstasy, according to the plea deal. In total, prosecutors say Greenberg had sex with the girl at least seven times.
'Greenberg also introduced the Minor to other adult men, who engaged in commercial sex acts with the Minor,' the plea agreement states. The plea deal, signed Wednesday, does not identify the men.
Joel Greenberg and his wife Abby and their two children. As part of his plea agreement, Greenberg admitted that he recruited women for commercial sex acts and paid them more than $70,000 from 2016 to 2018, including at least one underage girl he paid to have sex with him and others
Gaetz, left, is pictured Friday. Gaetz has not been charged with any crimes and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing
Prosecutors say Greenberg also used his position as the Seminole County tax collector to access a state driver´s information database to 'investigate' the women he was having sex with and had searched for the underage girl at least once because he 'had reason to believe the minor was under the age of 18,' the plea agreement says.
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 on Thursday.
Greenberg´s legal problems began last summer when he was arrested on charges of stalking a political opponent.
He mailed fake letters to the school where his opponent taught, signed by a nonexistent 'very concerned student' who alleged the teacher had engaged in sexual misconduct with another student, according to an indictment filed against him.
Greenberg was charged in August with sex trafficking a girl between ages 14 and 17 and using a state database to look up information about the girl and other people with whom he was engaged in 'sugar daddy' relationships, according to the indictment.
Greenberg had first been indicted by a federal grand jury in June on charges that he stalked political opponent Brian Beute in the Republican primary for the Tax Collector's race and for identity theft. Beute is pictured outside the United States Federal Court House on Monday
Charges on allegations he embezzled $400,000 from the Seminole County tax collector´s office were added earlier this year, according to the indictment.
Investigators have also been looking at whether Gaetz and his associates tried to secure government jobs for some of the women, the people said.
They are also scrutinizing Gaetz´s connections to the medical marijuana sector, including whether his associates sought to influence legislation Gaetz sponsored.
The people had knowledge of the investigation but spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to publicly discuss the ongoing investigation.
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, the Daily Beast reported.
'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, 38, and his fiancée Ginger Luckey, 26, in a photo shared on Twitter by Gaetz on December 10 under a photograph of Ronald Reagan
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.'
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.
'The first indictment of Joel Greenberg alleges that he falsely accused another man of sex with a minor for his own gain. That man was apparently innocent. So is Congressman Gaetz,' said Harlan Hill, a spokesman for the lawmaker.
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