Matt Gaetz allegedly took a part in a sex trafficking scheme and had sex with a minor.
Joel Greenberg claims in his confession letter as he also paid to have sexual relations with an individual that was later found to be underage.
Recently, a cooperating witness confirmed the details of the call where Greenberg gave Gaetz the bad news, claiming that he was in Greenberg's office when the call occurred. The witness was identified as "Big Joe" Ellicott, who was Greenberg's longtime best friend and an employee at the Seminole County tax office.
Sex Trafficking Crime
Ellicott recently pleaded guilty to fraud and drug charges as part of a cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors. While the witness has so far avoided being charged with sex trafficking of a minor, a case that Greenberg pleaded guilty to last May, he said he was present for the call between the two that took place on Sept. 4, 2017.
The two sources said that the call was short and Gaetz was the one who ended the conversation. While they did not know whether or not Ellicott had discussed the call with investigators, his account would likely be of critical interest in the case, The Daily Beast reported.
Investigators from the Justice Department said they have come to a cooperation agreement with the witness who claimed that he saw Gaetz attend parties that involved "a whole lot" of sex and drug use. The claims are another set of potentially damning statements amid the investigations into the congressman.
Joe Zwick, Ellicott's attorney, said that his client attended events or heard conversations involving the congressman that could be of use to investigators. He added that the events were "basically like what you'd expect at a college frat party." He also said that the events included sex and drugs. However, he declined to say whether Ellicott personally saw Gaetz conducting such behavior.
Drugs and Sex
Zwick said that his client observed a lot of behavior that, if seen by anyone, would not think was the kind of behavior befitting a United States congressman. In a statement, Gaetz's office said that after nearly a year of false rumors, there was no evidence that implicated Gaetz in any wrongdoing, The Washington Post reported.
The situation comes as Ellicott is also set to plead guilty to the distribution of a controlled substance. He allegedly sold Adderall to other people for at least two years including one unnamed person who paid a total of $5,000 for the substance, based on court documents.
There was one instance revealed after a payment that was made over Venmo where the buyer said that he paid Ellicott for the drugs but wrote in the memo line "2-hour full body massage." The writing was done to conceal the nature of the transaction between the two parties, prosecutors said.
In a previous report, a private text exchange between Ellicott and Greenberg over the encrypted messaging app Signal, the witness allegedly told Greenberg in August of 2020 that a mutual friend was worried she could get implicated in the investigation into the sex ring involving a minor, ABC News reported.
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