ORLANDO, Fla. — Prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence Joel Greenberg to less than the mandatory 12-year prison sentence he faces for sex trafficking and other charges, citing the former Seminole County tax collector’s help in building cases against some of his former associates.
Greenberg has “provided truthful and timely information to the United States which, in part, resulted in the charging of others and that has substantially assisted in the investigation and prosecution of other persons,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Daniels wrote in a motion filed Thursday.
The filing comes as Greenberg is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 1. Daniels’ motion doesn’t specify what sentence the government is seeking, but asks for Greenberg to face a lesser punishment for the crime of sex trafficking of a child, which typically carries a 10-year mandatory sentence.
He also faces a mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft, which the government is not seeking to reduce. Greenberg in May 2021 pleaded guilty to six of the 33 charges he faced and has been cooperating with federal investigators ever since.
Fritz Scheller, Greenberg’s defense attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
According to Daniels, Greenberg’s testimony helped build the government’s cases against at least four people:
— Michael Shirley, a former Republican operative and campaign consultant who allegedly paid Greenberg $6,000 in bribes and kickbacks. Prosecutors say Shirley garnered more than $466,000 from the scheme, which involved submitting fake or inflated invoices to Greenberg’s office. Shirley was indicted on fraud charges and is slated for trial in January. He has pleaded not guilty.
— Joseph Ellicott, a former close friend of Greenberg’s and sports radio host who worked for the tax office as its “supervisor of facilities” or “special projects manager” — roles other employees said were bogus. Ellicott has admitted to acting as a go-between for the alleged payments from Shirley to Greenberg. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced last month to 15 months in federal prison.
— Keith Ingersoll, whom Greenberg hired as the tax office’s real estate adviser. He was involved in a property-flipping scheme in which the office bought a building for $942,000 hours after it had been sold for just $680,000. Ingersoll was also charged with scamming a wealthy investor out of millions of dollars, falsely claiming the money would be used to purchase properties throughout the U.S. and in the Bahamas. Ingersoll pleaded guilty Oct. 19 to fraud charges and is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 18.
— Teresa McIntyre, who allegedly was involved along with Greenberg in a scheme to submit fraudulent COVID-19 relief loan applications to the U.S. Small Business Administration. She has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the government and is slated for sentencing Jan. 6, court records show.
Daniels wrote that Greenberg also cooperated on “other matters,” though what those are remains a secret: The prosecutor’s motion was accompanied by a separate memorandum, filed under seal, which apparently details investigations he helped with that aren’t yet public.
In a motion asking the court to seal the memorandum, Daniels wrote that doing so would “safeguard from public scrutiny certain sensitive information regarding pending criminal investigations which would come to light were the proceedings to become public knowledge.”
U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell agreed to seal the memo.
The motion seeking a lighter sentence for Greenberg makes no mention of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, his former political ally. Reports have indicated prosecutors were investigating whether Gaetz, R-Fla., had sex with the girl Greenberg is accused of trafficking or otherwise violated trafficking laws.
The Washington Post reported in September that career Justice Department prosecutors had recommended against charging Gaetz in the case, citing concerns about the credibility of key witnesses against him. Gaetz has denied wrongdoing since news of the probe surfaced.
Though Gaetz represents a district in the Panhandle, he and Greenberg became friends and political allies before the tax collector was arrested on federal charges in June 2020. Greenberg in his plea deal admitted to paying women and a 17-year-old girl for sex.
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