A Florida collectibles dealer and former shock jock, "Big Joe" Ellicott, agreed to plead guilty earlier this week to conspiracy to commit fraud and drug charges, and committed to "cooperate fully with the United States in the investigation and prosecution of other people" and to testify against them, Politico reported Wednesday. The "other people" part is of interest because Ellicott was named on a December 2020 subpoena, along with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), regarding an investigation "involving commercial sex acts with adult and minor women, as well as obstruction of justice."
Gaetz and Ellicott's lawyer say the two men were only loosely acquainted. But Ellicott was good friends with former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, Gaetz's "wingman" and central to the investigation into whether Gaetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old and then obstructed justice. Gaetz has repeatedly denied that allegation.
Greenberg has pleaded guilty to a number of federal offenses, including sex trafficking a teenager, and is cooperating with prosecutors. Ellicott's "testimony would be very similar to what Greenberg could provide," his lawyer Joseph Zwick told Politico. "He's probably more credible than Greenberg."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Ellicott's case is being handed by federal prosecutors in Orlando, while Gaetz's case is in the hands of seasoned prosecutors from the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. Ellicott probably has information the Gaetz investigators would be interested in, The Daily Beast reports.
Ellicott was working in the tax collector's office when Greenberg called Gaetz to inform him the woman they had both had sex with was 17, The Daily Beast reports. Greenberg disclosed this Sept. 4, 2017, conversation in a confessional letter he wrote as part of an unsuccessful scheme to secure a presidential pardon, and federal prosecutors have both that letter and the exact time Greenberg illegally looked up the girl's age in his office's database.
Ellicott was there when Greenberg made the call, two people briefed on the matter tell The Daily Beast, and if he can corroborate that Greenberg warned Gaetz about the age of their sex partner, that would "contradict Gaetz's repeated assertions that he never had sex with an underage girl as an adult." Gaetz has not been charged with a crime.
-
Roasted squash and apple soup recipeThe Week Recommends Autumnal soup is full of warming and hearty flavours
-
Ukraine: Donald Trump pivots againIn the Spotlight US president apparently warned Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept Vladimir Putin’s terms or face destruction during fractious face-to-face
-
Autumn Budget: will Rachel Reeves raid the rich?Talking Point To fill Britain’s financial black hole, the Chancellor will have to consider everything – except an income tax rise
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
