AP β A former Florida tax collector whose arrest led to a federal probe into U. Matt Gaetz has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for sex trafficking of a minor and other offenses. Joel Greenberg, former tax collector for Seminole County, was accused of stalking a political opponent, public corruption, making fake licenses and scheming to submit false claims for a federal loan. He pleaded guilty to six federal crimes, including identity theft, stalking, wire fraud and conspiracy to bribe a public official.
Prosecutors said he paid at least one girl to have sex with him and other men. My conduct is so shameful. District Judge Gregory Presnell sentenced him in an Orlando courtroom. Greenberg also directly apologized to the residents of Seminole County, his family and a schoolteacher he smeared when the educator decided to run against him. Gaetz has denied the allegations and previously said they were part of an extortion plot.
No charges have been brought against the Republican congressman, who represents a large part of the Florida Panhandle. Greenberg has been linked to other Florida politicians and their associates.
So far, none has been implicated in the sex trafficking investigation. Attorney Roger Handberg argued for the upper limit of the range, telling the judge Greenberg abused trust to commit crimes. Scheller asked the judge to give Greenberg only a fraction of the range, arguing he was making amends and was no longer the same person who committed the crimes. At the time he committed the crimes, he had bipolar disorder with symptoms of mania, which affected his judgment and impulse control, Scheller said.
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