ORLANDO, Fla. — Although federal prosecutors and Joel Greenberg’s attorney said Thursday that they are working on a plea agreement, the former Seminole County tax collector pleaded not guilty Friday morning to the latest charges against him.
Those include that he used his public position to divert more than $400,000 of public money to himself and that he bribed a government official to obtain fraudulent loans through a program meant to help small businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Greenberg’s latest not-guilty plea, which was expected, happened during a brief hearing before Magistrate Judge Leslie Hoffman, who accepted the plea.
Greenberg, who is in the Orange County jail, did not attend the arraignment.
In all, Greenberg faces 33 federal charges that also include stalking a political opponent, identity theft, wire fraud, theft of government property, creating fake IDs using equipment from his public office and sex trafficking of a minor.
During a status hearing in federal court Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg and Greenberg’s attorney Fritz Scheller announced that the case should be resolved by May 15 with the former tax collector agreeing to plead guilty. Terms of the plea agreement between Greenberg and federal prosecutors is not known, including whether he plans to testify as a federal witness in a future case.
Greenberg was a close friend of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and there is speculation that he may be cooperating with federal authorities on their probe of the congressman for a lenient sentence. According to a New York Times report last week, federal investigators are looking into whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her to travel with him.
Greenberg was first arrested and charged on June 23 on allegations in a grand jury indictment that he stalked one of his primary election opponents in October 2019 by sending letters to the school where the man taught and falsely accusing him of sexual misconduct with a student.
When federal agents raided Greenberg’s Lake Mary home, they found several fake IDs inside his wallet and in a backpack that was in the front seat of his SUV, according to court documents.
Federal prosecutors continued adding more charges in three more indictments that followed.
