By Orlando Sentinel
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The podcast currently has 11 episodes available.
Eleven years in federal prison. That’s the punishment U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell gave Joel Greenberg, Seminole County’s former tax collector, for carrying out a staggeringly broad crime spree that the judge described as having “no precedent.” Though the judge suggested he felt the sentence was perhaps too lenient, it was at the top end of federal guidelines, factoring in the credit that government prosecutors gave Greenberg for his cooperation in their investigations into his former friends and allies.
In meetings with investigators, Joel Greenberg described widespread corruption in Central Florida politics. Lucrative jobs and contracts doled out as political favors. Cash handoffs to avoid detection. Developers pulling the strings of public officials. And a who’s-who of local politicians and influential figures who benefitted. In this podcast you hear Greenberg, in his own words, liken the Seminole County political scene to organized crime. Seminole County’s disgraced former tax collector is slated to be sentenced on Dec. 1. Greenberg will find out then if the assistance he has provided will reduce the amount of time he spends in prison.
In this episode of Joel Greenberg: The Man, The Scandal, The Players, we’re going to bring you up to speed on recent developments in the investigation and the efforts to make Greenberg’s victims whole, and also look ahead to the new year, which has the potential to be a very eventful one.
This episode of Joel Greenberg, The Man, The Scandal, The Players, focuses on elaborate schemes to intimidate and destroy the reputations of Save Rural Seminole leaders using bogus social media accounts and anonymous letters.
This episode of Joel Greenberg, The Man, The Scandal, The Players, focuses on the connections between Congressman Matt Gaetz and other key figures in Florida's medical marijuana industry.
In this episode of Joel Greenberg: The Man, The Scandal, The Players, we take a deep dive into Greenberg’s plea deal and discuss the deal’s implications for U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz and others.
Before his downfall, Joel Greenberg relished accumulating friendships with powerful and well-connected people. Episode 4 of Joel Greenberg: The Man, The Scandal, The Players delves into this network of power brokers, many of whom wound up at various times on the payroll of the tax collector’s office.
Before Joel Greenberg was a central figure in a national political scandal involving Congressman Matt Gaetz, he was a font of local controversies — a disruptor, a lightning rod, a rising star, and a cautionary tale.
At one time, Congressman Matt Gaetz considered Joel Greenberg his wingman. Now, Greenberg is a pariah, and their friendship, for Gaetz, is a liability. Greenberg, the former Seminole County tax collector, faces a slew of federal charges — 33, as the case now stands — and is slated to reach a plea agreement with prosecutors by May 15.
In 2016, few knew much about the 31-year-old man who’d just scored an upset victory to win public office in Seminole County. A constant stream of odd news and controversies began almost as soon as Joel Greenberg started the job. Still, he became a rising star in local Republican politics – and accumulated powerful friends. And now Greenberg faces a staggering 33 federal charges. And the outcome of this case threatens to ensnare some of Greenberg’s closest allies, including Congressman Matt Gaetz.
The podcast currently has 11 episodes available.
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