Rep. Matt Gaetz Associate Joel Greenberg To Be Sentenced In August On Sex Trafficking Charges

ORLANDO (CBSMiami/AP) -- Former Florida tax collector Joel Greenberg, a central figure in the Justice Department's sex trafficking investigation of Rep. Matt Gaetz will be sentenced in August.

A federal judge in Orlando accepted Greenberg's plea deal on Thursday.

As part of the plea, Greenberg has agreed to give "substantial assistance" to prosecutors as part of their sprawling investigation, including by testifying at trials or in federal grand juries if needed and in turning over all documents he might have that could help the federal inquiry.

Last month, Greenberg pleaded guilty to six of the nearly three dozen charges he faced, including sex trafficking of a minor. He also admitted that he had paid at least one underage girl to have sex with him and other men.

Gaetz was not mentioned in the plea agreement. But Greenberg's cooperation — as a key figure in the investigation and a close ally of Gaetz's — may escalate the potential legal and political liability facing the firebrand Republican congressman from the Florida Panhandle.

Gaetz has denied the allegations and any accusation of wrongdoing and has said repeatedly he will not resign from Congress.

Greenberg, a former Seminole County tax collector, will be sentenced in Orlando on Aug. 19.

(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)