Not good for Matt Gaetz
A Florida politician at the center of an investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz is negotiating with federal prosecutors to resolve his own sex-trafficking and other charges, a potentially ominous sign for Gaetz if his associate decides to cooperate in a bid for leniency.
Joel Greenberg, the former tax collector for Seminole County, Fla., was initially charged last summer in a bare-bones indictment that prosecutors have since superseded, adding charges of sex trafficking of a minor, stealing from the tax office and even trying to use fraud to get coronavirus relief money while out on bond. In the course of the investigation into his conduct, people familiar with the matter have said, federal authorities came across evidence that Gaetz (R-Fla.) might have committed a crime and launched a separate investigation into him.
At a status conference in Greenberg’s case on Thursday, federal prosecutor Roger Handberg told a judge that he expected a plea, though negotiations are ongoing. Fritz Scheller, an attorney for Greenberg, asked the judge to set a deadline of May 15 for the two sides to either reach a deal or move toward a trial in the summer.
