Joel Greenberg, the man Florida Republican Congressman dubbed his “wingman,” pleaded guilty Friday to six felony counts including sex trafficking, money laundering and identity theft as part of a plea agreement in which he will cooperate with prosecutors in other investigations, the New York Times reports.
Greenberg did not specifically mention Gaetz by name in his plea agreement, but said that he “introduced the minor to other adult men, who engaged in commercial sex acts” with her, some of which he watched.
In the filings, made in federal court in Orlando, Florida, Justice Department prosecutors said they had other corroborating information to support Greenberg’s account, including a series of communications and transactions Greenberg had with the girl, and a list of dates of their sexual encounters. The Times had earlier reported that Greenberg paid girls using the Venmo app, and that Greenberg paid girls the exact same amount of money Gaetz had paid him less than a day earlier.
The 37-year-old Greenberg is a long-time associate of Gaetz, who referred to Greenberg as his “wingman.” A one-time tax collector in Orlando, Greenberg has been accused of multiple abuses of power, such as arming his agents who did property tax assessments and conducting traffic stops while wearing a badge as though he was a law enforcement agent.
Gaetz, 37, is an ally of Donald Trump and has claimed that the investigation into his possible sex trafficking of minors is a political attack, even though the investigation started while Trump was still in office. He has repeatedly claimed innocence of having sex with a minor, but in doing so has admitted behavior consistent with the claims against him, like paying for travel and hotels for his “girlfriends.” He even tried ensnarling Fox News host Tucker Carlson in his alibi on live television, claiming that Carlson and his wife accompanied Gaetz and a young woman to dinner, an event of which Carlson denies any memory.