Greenberg’s partnership with the Justice Department could provide investigators with important details as they work to determine whether Gaetz himself has violated sex trafficking or prostitution laws.
Gaetz has denied ever having paid for sex and has spent the past week trying to frame the charges against him due to political bias in the legal system and the media.
A federal prosecutor and Greenberg’s attorney told a judge that the deal was not final, but there is an expectation that it could be resolved within weeks.
“We think this case will be a plea,” said assistant US attorney Roger Handberg.
Greenberg’s attorney, Fritz Scheller, filed for a plea by May 15. If no plea is reached, they can go to trial in July.
Greenberg, the former tax commissioner in Seminole County, Florida, and a friend of Gaetz’s, had spent decades in jail on 33 federal counts, ranging from identity theft to sex trafficking of a minor. CNN reported last week that the investigation into Gaetz began in 2020 as part of the wider investigation into Greenberg.
People who know the two men have described them as close-knit, with a relationship that was both about Republican Party politics in the state and socializing after hours.
Investigators are considering Gaetz’s connections to several Florida associates who may have benefited politically in exchange for congressional favors, including escorts, travel and campaign donations, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
Greenberg was arrested in 2020 on charges of stalking after allegedly falsifying documents and social media accounts to regard a political rival as a pedophile and white supremacist.
Prosecutors have since secured three additional charges against the former tax commissioner – including one last week – in a manner and at a pace that, according to legal observers, could have been intended to increase pressure on him to cooperate.
Few details about the sex trafficking of a minor charge levied in Greenberg last year have been revealed to the public, but in an August indictment, prosecutors said the minor was between 14 and 17 years old and charged Greenberg of having obtained a photo unlawfully. and driver identification number for the person.
Prosecutors have also accused Greenberg of unlawfully accessing a motor vehicle database to obtain and use the personal information of people, including some with whom Greenberg had “a” sugar daddy “relationship.
CNN reported last week that witnesses presented federal investigators with information about a nighttime appointment that Gaetz and Greenberg had at the tax commission’s office, where they were seen on internal surveillance cameras viewing ID cards.
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Mark Morales contributed to this report.