U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz unlikely to face charges in sex-trafficking probe, report says

Citing concerns about the credibility of key witnesses against him — including Seminole County’s former tax collector, Joel Greenberg — career Justice Department prosecutors have recommended against charging U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz with sex trafficking, according to a report.

The Washington Post reported Friday that the unnamed prosecutors told their superiors that a conviction of Gaetz would be “unlikely.” No final decision has been made, according to the Post report, which added “it is rare for such advice to be rejected.”

It is now unlikely that Gaetz, who has denied wrongdoing since news of the probe surfaced, will face criminal charges, the report said.

The report attributed the information to “people familiar with the matter.” Gaetz, 40, has reportedly been under investigation since late 2020, a probe that emerged from the case against Greenberg, who has pleaded guilty to sex trafficking and other charges and is awaiting sentencing.

Greenberg’s plea deal required him to cooperate with prosecutors and court filings have indicated he has given them multiple interviews. He also has spoken to state investigators as part of their inquiry into Florida’s 2020 “ghost” candidate scandal and other matters.

Greenberg’s attorney, Fritz Scheller, said Friday he had not read the Washington Post story.

“I have not received any information from the government regarding its decision to abandon its investigation and prosecution [of Gaetz],” he said. “Nevertheless, based on my knowledge of the evidence, I would be surprised by such a decision.”

Though Gaetz represents a district in the Panhandle, he and Greenberg became friends and political allies before the tax collector was arrested on federal charges in June 2020. Greenberg faced 33 counts by the time he accepted a plea deal and agreed to cooperate.

Greenberg in his plea deal admitted to paying women and a 17-year-old girl for sex. According to multiple reports, the probe into Gaetz sought to determine if he also had sex with the teenager or other paid sex that would violate trafficking laws, which Gaetz has denied.

Among other crimes, Greenberg was accused of concocting fake evidence to smear a political rival as a child abuser, something that could present a challenge to his credibility as a witness.

According to the Post report, the other witness against Gaetz whose credibility concerned prosecutors was an ex-girfriend who testified before an Orlando grand jury this year and who was reportedly on a 2018 trip to the Bahamas that was scrutinized by investigators.

Her testimony, the report said, “has issues that veteran prosecutors feel would not pass muster with a jury.”

The probe of Gaetz, a prominent ally of former President Donald Trump, reportedly began when Trump was still in the White House and the Justice Department was being overseen by then-Attorney General Bill Barr.

According to a report by the Post last week, testimony given to the House select committee investigating the U.S. Capitol riot revealed Gaetz at one point sought a preemptive pardon regarding the sex-trafficking probe.

It’s unclear what impact a decision not to charge Gaetz could have on Greenberg’s sentence. He faces a mandatory minimum of 12 years in prison but had hoped to secure a lesser sentence by providing prosecutors with “substantial assistance.”

That typically means helping build cases against other targets.

Several people in Greenberg’s orbit have been charged, though not in connection to his alleged trafficking of the 17-year-old.

This week, an indictment was unsealed against Michael Shirley, who worked for Greenberg and is accused of bribing a public official meeting the former tax collector’s description as part of a kickback scheme. Greenberg’s office paid Shirley’s company about $678,000 beginning in 2017.

Federal prosecutors have also charged another apparent participant in the scheme: former radio talk show host Joe Ellicott, who pleaded guilty in February to paying thousands of dollars in a cash bribe to Greenberg.

Two other Greenberg associates, his office’s former real estate advisor Keith Ingersoll and James Adamcyzk, are expected to plead guilty to charges that they took part in a multimillion-dollar real estate fraud scheme. It’s unclear if Greenberg had any involvement in that case.

Greenberg is currently in the Orange County Jail and scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 1. He pleaded guilty in May 2021 to six felony charges, including sex trafficking of a child, identity theft, stalking, wire fraud, creating fake driver’s licenses and conspiracy to bribe a public official.

Martin E. Comas of the Sentinel staff contributed.

jeweiner@orlandosentinel.com