Joel Greenberg sentenced to 11 years in prison for sex trafficking, other crimes

Joel Greenberg — who as Seminole County’s tax collector trafficked a teenager, stalked a political rival, stole identities and spent taxpayer funds on paid sex and cryptocurrency, among other misdeeds — was sentenced to 11 years in prison Thursday, bringing to a close one of the most stunning cases of political corruption in state history.

Greenberg was elected to public office just over six years ago at the age of 31 and became a rising star in GOP politics, even as he faced one controversy after another. But his abuse of taxpayer funds drew the attention of federal investigators, prompting his downfall.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell handed down Greenberg’s sentence during a morning hearing at the federal courthouse in downtown Orlando. Prosecutors and federal guidelines, factoring in Greenberg’s cooperation with investigators as part of a plea deal, called for a sentence between 9.25 and 11 years.

Before announcing the sentence, Presnell said that in more than 22 years as a federal judge, he had “never experienced a case like this” of public corruption, and called it “chartering new territory.” He noted three times that Greenberg used the Seminole Tax Collector’s Office solely for his own benefit.

“The one thing that stands out to me is the violation of public trust,” the judge said. “We have an elected tax collector stealing tax money. … It’s truly outrageous.”

Greenberg acknowledged the harm he had done to Seminole County residents in an apology he read during the hearing.

“I feel remorse for what I have done,” he said, reading from a yellow sheet of paper. “I let you down and betrayed your trust.”

His defense attorney has repeatedly said that Greenberg was a player in a larger racket of criminality involving other public figures, related to election corruption and sex trafficking. And on Wednesday, attorney Fritz Scheller said Greenberg continues to cooperate with federal and state authorities on investigations into about two dozen individuals.

After the hearing, Scheller told reporters that when he took on the case he feared Greenberg would face as much as 30 years in prison. He asked the judge to sentence his client to eight. Still, he said he was pleased with the outcome. Greenberg, he said, “does have a genuine sense of remorse.”

Greenberg’s cooperation has so far helped lead to indictments of several of his former associates, but not U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Panhandle Republican and former friend who according to reports came under investigation as a result of the Greenberg probe.

That investigation, which made national headlines, reportedly concerned whether Gaetz had sex with the same teenager Greenberg admitted to trafficking. Gaetz has denied wrongdoing and a recent Washington Post report suggested he is unlikely to face charges.

Greenberg was first arrested in June 2020 and resigned from office days later. In all, he would be charged with 33 federal crimes. But prosecutors dropped 27 against him, in exchange for a guilty plea and his help in prosecuting others.

In May 2021, Greenberg pleaded guilty to six felonies, including sex trafficking of a child, identity theft, stalking, wire fraud and conspiracy to bribe a public official.

“During the three and a half years when he was tax collector, Joel Micah Greenberg repeatedly used his position to engage in a bold, brazen, and nearly undeterrable crime spree,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Harrington said in a recent court filing.

But Scheller told Presnell that Greenberg has had a long history of mental illness, including being diagnosed with attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at 7 years old. He also has long suffered from panic attacks, depression, impulsiveness and anxiety disorders. Scheller added that Greenberg was under psychiatric treatment and medication while in office, which led to his “pervasive criminal conduct” and lack of impulse control.

“It was the result of an impaired mind,” Scheller said in urging for a lighter sentence.

Scheller added that Greenberg also has long struggled with a negative sense of self-worth. And when he was elected Tax Collector, he felt empowered and relished the attention.

“Mr. Greenberg was using money and sex to get access to political circles,” Scheller said. “He came from a dark place, a lack of self-worth, and tried to ingratiate himself with important people.”

Even so, Greenberg being sentenced to federal prison is stunning by nearly any standard. He was elected Seminole tax collector in 2016 as a political newcomer after defeating a longtime incumbent Ray Valdes in the Republican primary and then winning over a write-in candidate in the general election.

But on his first day in office, Jan. 3, 2017, Greenberg used the resources at the Tax Collector’s Office to illegally manipulate an individual’s personal information to cover his tracks for having created a fake ID years earlier, according to his plea agreement.

Presnell called Greenberg’s identity theft charge a “horrible crime,” especially for a public official to commit.

Within months of taking office, Greenberg had doled out millions of dollars in public money to friends and political associates by creating salaried positions for them within the Tax Collector’s Office.

Greenberg paid more than $70,000 — some of it with an American Express card belonging to the Tax Collector’s Office — in more than 150 separate transactions to engage in commercial sex with women at area hotels, including with a minor at least seven times.

Scheller in a pre-sentencing memorandum argued as mitigating factors that the girl Greenberg had sex with “was on the brink of turning 18? and posted a profile on an escort website claiming she was an adult.

Presnell on Thursday seemed to take those factors into account.

“Mr. Greenberg is not a pedophile,” the judge said. Although, Greenberg will have to register as a sex offender when he completes his prison term, along with 10 years of probation.

Greenberg opened up a private bank account under his name and funded it with public money from the Tax Collector’s Office. He also used tens of thousands of dollars in public money to buy cryptocurrency. He attempted to hide the purchases by transferring the funds into his personal accounts.

Greenberg used public money to buy for himself electronic machines that data mined for cryptocurrency. Because the machines were improperly wired together in an electronic daisy chain, it created a fire in a room at the Lake Mary branch of the Tax Collector’s Office that destroyed public equipment, according to prosecutors and county auditors.

“Mr. Greenberg had no legitimate need to steal money,” Presnell said Thursday. “He had a high-paying position.”

Throughout his crime spree, Greenberg was undeterred by evidence that he would face consequences for his actions, the judge said.

Days after he was first arrested in June 2020 and resigned from office, Greenberg schemed with an employee for the Small Business Administration and another individual to submit false claims for economic assistance loans available under the CARES Act during the Covid pandemic.

Greenberg received over $434,000 and paid the employee and individual $16,000 as a kickback for help in the scheme, prosecutors said.

And in late 2019 — months after a federal subpoena was delivered to the tax office and Greenberg learned he was under investigation for misspending funds — he embarked on a smear campaign against Brian Beute, a private school teacher who had filed to run against Greenberg.

He coordinated anonymous letters being sent to Beute’s school falsely alleging that the teacher had sexually abused a student. Greenberg also created social media profiles in Beute’s name that falsely portrayed him as a white supremacist.

Presnell on Thursday called Greenberg’s identity theft a “horrible crime” and his smear campaign against Beute “the most horrendous of all” — adding later: “That was just downright evil.”

In his prepared statement to the court, Greenberg apologized to Beute. He also apologized to his parents — the wealthy owners of a dental empire who, Scheller said, have excised him from their will — as well as his ex-wife — who divorced him while he sat in jail — and their children.

“I know I can never make up for what I’ve done and I deserve punishment for what I’ve done,” Greenberg said.

Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing, Beute said he accepted Greenberg’s apology.

“I don’t characterize Joel as an evil person,” he said.

mcomas@orlandosentinel.com