Joel Greenberg, an associate of embattled GOP Congressman Matt Gaetz, is expected to take a plea deal in his own sex-trafficking case — and cooperate with federal authorities, according to reports Thursday.
Greenberg’s lawyer and prosecutors said in court that the former Florida county tax collector is expected to make a deal in his case, in which prosecutors accuse him of paying an underage girl for sex and tapping the state’s motor vehicle database for information on people he had relationships with, CNN reported.
A federal probe into whether Gaetz (R-Fla.) had sex with a 17-year-old girl and paid for her to travel with him across state lines reportedly grew out of the investigation into Greenberg.
Greenberg’s plea deal has not been finalized, but authorities expect it to be in the upcoming weeks, according to the report.
“We believe this case will be a plea,” Assistant US Attorney Roger Handberg told a judge Thursday, according to CNN.
The former political ally of Gaetz is expected to cooperate with authorities, who have hit him with a number of charges since his first arrest in 2020, Politico reported.
Gaetz, who has not been charged with a crime, denies the allegations and has deflected media coverage of the probe by claiming he’s the target of an elaborate shakedown by a former DOJ official.
The feds probing Gaetz are investigating a host of allegations, including whether or not he paid women for sex after Greenberg recruited them on so-called “sugar daddy” websites, the New York Times reported.
Authorities reportedly began looking at Gaetz after text messages allegedly showed Greenberg asking a worker to create a duplicate ID for the politician outside of proper channels.
Investigators are also probing whether a trip Gaetz took to the Bahamas with Jason Pirozzolo, a hand surgeon and cannabis businessman, violated sex-trafficking laws, CBS reported, citing sources.
The feds are working to determine if Pirozzolo paid for escorts to have sex with Gaetz — and whether they were trafficked across state or international borders, according to the report.
They’re also investigating if Gaetz traded political access or legislative favors in exchange for sex workers, according to the report.