A judge is postponing Matt Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg's sentencing since he's helping with a federal investigation
A federal judge agreed to postpone the sentencing of Matt Gaetz associate Joel Greenberg.
Greenberg's attorney and federal prosecutors asked for it to be pushed back to March 2022.
He has been cooperating with the feds in a criminal sex-trafficking investigation.
A federal judge on Monday agreed to postpone Joel Greenberg's sentencing, according to a new court filing.
Greenberg, a former Seminole County, Florida, tax collector, has been cooperating with prosecutors in the investigation into him and Florida congressman Matt Gaetz since last year, and he struck a formal plea deal in May, pleading guilty to six felony counts of sex trafficking, wire fraud, identity theft, conspiracy, and stalking.
Greenberg's initial sentencing date was scheduled for August but got pushed back to November at the request of his defense attorney and federal prosecutors. This is the second time his sentencing was postponed.
In the filing requesting the postponement, Greenberg's lawyer Fritz Scheller wrote that his client's "cooperation, which could impact his ultimate sentence, cannot be completed prior to the time of his sentencing."
Investigators began scrutinizing whether Gaetz violated federal sex-trafficking laws last year as part of their inquiry into Greenberg. In addition to looking into whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old in 2019, prosecutors are said to be looking into whether he paid for her to travel with him, thereby breaking federal sex-trafficking laws.
The New York Times reported that the inquiry is focusing on Gaetz's and Greenberg's interactions with "multiple women who were recruited online for sex and received cash payments." The sex probe is focusing on Gaetz's conduct not only in his home state of Florida but also in other states, and investigators are said to be examining whether Gaetz used campaign money to fund travel and other expenses for women.
Sources told ABC News that Greenberg turned over years of Venmo and Cash App transactions to federal prosecutors, and that he also gave them access to personal social-media accounts.
Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing, and he has not been charged with a crime. His spokesperson, Harlan Hill, denounced the allegations as false to reporters and urged the public to tune into Gaetz's podcast, Firebrand, to hear him address the "debunked allegations" against him.
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