‘This Is Really Bad for Gaetz’: Florida Prosecutor Gives Blunt Assessment of Joel Greenberg’s Guilty Plea

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“I’m sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today.” That was the comment Fritz Scheller, the attorney for former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, made to reporters in April. If the Florida Congressman was uncomfortable a month ago, he’s undoubtedly downright miserable now, after new details have emerged regarding Greenberg’s plea deal.

On Friday, multiple news outlets, including the New York Times and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, reported new details from Greenberg’s written plea agreement that will be made official during a court hearing Monday morning. Mediaite has obtained a copy of the plea agreement (signed by Greenberg, Scheller, and the prosecutors) and it is embedded at the end of this article.

Greenberg was facing 33 charges in a federal indictment that was amended four times to add additional allegations of criminal activity, and facing a potential life sentence. The charges were related to an alleged sex trafficking scheme, Greenberg’s alleged misappropriation and theft of taxpayer funds, an allegedly fraudulent application for a PPP loan from the Covid relief fund, and a bizarre plot to allegedly smear the reputation of one of his opponents in the 2020 primary election, and are widely reported to implicate Gaetz and a number of other prominent Florida Republicans.

The plea deal provides for prosecutors to drop 27 counts against Greenberg, who will then enter guilty pleas for the remaining 6 charges, including sex trafficking of a child, production of a false identification document, aggravated identity theft, stalking, wire fraud, and conspiracy to bribe a public official.

The mandatory minimum sentence for the remaining counts is 12 years, but theoretically, Greenberg could still be sentenced far more than that, even up to a life sentence. Four of the remaining counts allow maximum sentences of a total of 55 years, according to the agreement.

If Greenberg does fulfill the terms of his plea agreement, then his sentence will be closer to the mandatory minimum of 12, according to Palm Beach State Attorney Dave Aronberg, who spoke to Mediaite by phone on Friday.

Several media outlets pointed out how the plea agreement did not mention Gaetz by name, but Aronberg explained that was standard practice. “They don’t do that — they won’t be that specific,” he said. Even without being named, Aronberg commented, “this is really bad for Gaetz.”

A few weeks ago, it was reported that Greenberg wrote several drafts of a confession letter and sent them to Roger Stone, in the hopes of getting Stone’s help with a pardon from former President Donald Trump. Stories like that have been dropping repeatedly all year as the evidence against Greenberg continues to pile up. With what looks like a slam-dunk case, said Aronberg, federal prosecutors would not be willing to drop 27 out of 33 charges unless Greenberg had something significant to trade.

“The feds are not going to cut a deal with an alleged child sex trafficker, unless that defendant has credible information that leads to the prosecution of others who committed equal or worse crimes, or a bigger fish,” said Aronberg, meaning a criminal defendant who is more prominent or higher ranking.

It’s not a stretch to say that a sitting Congressman is a “bigger fish” than a former county tax collector. To be clear, Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and has not yet been charged with any crimes, although he has admitted that the Department of Justice began investigating him last year during Trump’s tenure in office.

The reports regarding the details of the plea agreement show that Greenberg is “at the top of the food chain when it comes to the severity of the crimes,” Aronberg continued — he’s previously called Greenberg a “one-man criminal enterprise” — making it likely that the trade Greenberg was able to offer was the proverbial “bigger fish.”

Make that “bigger fishes” — among Greenberg’s admissions in this plea agreement are that he paid for sex with an underage girl, gave her illegal drugs, and also “introduced the minor to other adult men, who engaged in commercial sex acts” with her. Men, not just one additional man.

It’s “clear that it’s not just Greenberg, and it’s not just one person, it’s multiple people,” said Aronberg. “I suspect there are a few Florida Men who are lawyering up right now” — if they haven’t already.

The language of the plea agreement makes clear that Greenberg has “agree[d] to cooperate fully with the United States in the investigation and prosecution of other persons, and to testify, subject to a prosecution for perjury for making a false statement, fully and truthfully before any federal court proceeding or federal grand jury in connection with the charges in this case and other matters,” as well as detailed descriptions of the “full and complete disclosure of all relevant information” — meaning any evidence he may have regarding his alleged crimes or that may implicate others.

Greenberg will also be required to register as a sex offender.

Aronberg noted that the plea is not technically official until it’s formally filed on Monday morning. Still, it’s “highly unlikely that Greenberg backs out.” Even if Greenberg tried, the plea agreement legally functions as a confession, and they can use that against him — plus the 27 charges the feds agreed to drop would be resurrected if that happened.

“The only way [Greenberg’s plea agreement] is in trouble now,” said Aronberg, “is if he lies. They got admission of guilt.” (The sordid details of Greenberg’s admissions are included in the “Factual Basis” section of the plea agreement, which begins on page 28 in the document below.)

That “trouble,” by the way, would only apply to Greenberg, who would be facing additional years in jail. Any attempted shenanigans from the former tax collector from this point forward won’t stop the feds from using his confession and all the evidence they’ve gathered against any other potential defendants.

Have a good weekend, fellas.

Joel Greenberg Plea Deal by Sarah Rumpf on Scribd