ORLANDO, Fla. — Joel Greenberg, the former Seminole County tax collector at the center of a sprawling criminal investigation into everything from stalking to wire fraud to sex trafficking, used taxpayer money to pay $7,500 in legal fees to Florida state Rep. Anthony Sabatini, records show.
While still serving as tax collector, Greenberg gave Sabatini a $3,000-a-month “legal counsel” contract in September 2019 — five days after Sabatini was admitted to the Florida Bar. Greenberg canceled the contract a little more than two months later, citing “extreme budget constraints.”
It’s not clear what Sabatini, a Republican from Howey-in-the-Hills who casts himself as a crusader against “wasteful” government spending, did for the $7,500.
