Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg was charged with stalking a political opponent and unlawful use of another person’s identity in an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors on Tuesday.
U.S. Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez’s office said Greenberg, 35, falsely accused a political opponent who works as a teacher of sexual misconduct with a student and of being “a segregationist and in favor of white supremacy.” Greenberg allegedly used fake Twitter and Facebook accounts to post the information and posed as concerned students in letters to the school where the victim works.
Greenberg, a controversial elected official who was investigated by state officials — but never charged — after he appeared to impersonate a police officer in 2017, was arrested at his Lake Mary home early Tuesday.
Wearing handcuffs and shackles, Greenberg was escorted into a federal courtroom later in the morning by U.S. Marshals, where prosecutors offered some details about the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg said Greenberg’s DNA and fingerprints were found on nine letters sent to the school.
“There’s probably no more terrible thing you can do than accuse someone who works at a school of sexual misconduct,” Handberg said.
A Twitter account set up using the victim’s name and photo, as well as a Facebook account that purported to belong to a concerned teacher, was traced back to the IP address of Greenberg’s home, Handberg said.
The victim, Brian Beute, a fine arts teacher at Trinity Preparatory School in Winter Park who is challenging Greenberg in the Republican primary scheduled for August, expressed relief in a statement through his attorney.
Beute and his family “have been living under the trepidation” of the false allegations, said the statement from attorney David Bear of Orlando.
“The perpetrator weaponized the most heinous false allegation possible, knowing that simply making it public would ruin Brian’s career and life,” Bear said.
Local authorities cleared Beute of wrongdoing. And federal prosecutors said Greenberg knew the allegations made in the letters and social media posts were false.
According to the June 17 indictment of Greenberg, the crimes occurred between Oct. 10 and Nov. 15. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
Greenberg was released from federal custody shortly after the hearing.
Defense attorney Vincent Citro said Greenberg denies the charges and questioned the substance of the federal prosecutors’ case.
“We look forward to going to trial. The government will not be able to prove its case,” Citro said. “They made a federal case out of misusing Twitter and this case doesn’t belong in federal court.”
In court, Citro said he had been representing Greenberg in a federal investigation since April 2019, but that he hadn’t formally signed on to represent the tax collector related to the indictment. For that reason, Greenberg’s arraignment was pushed back to July 1.
Trinity Prep officials originally turned the letters over to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office. But the agency determined that the letters were written by an adult and not a student. And because the letters were delivered by U.S. Mail and the fake social media accounts were established on Twitter and Facebook, the case was then turned over to federal prosecutors.
Handberg told U.S. Magistrate Judge Embry Kidd that he wanted to limit Greenberg’s contact with the victim in the case.
“I don’t want Mr. Greenberg or anyone on his behalf to intimidate the witness in this case,” Handberg said.
But Citro noted that avoiding all contact could be impossible because “the alleged victim is campaigning against Mr. Greenberg for public office.”
Greenberg won’t be allowed to have “direct or indirect” contact with the alleged victim, but he will be allowed to attend public campaign events like debates or luncheons with his opponent, Kidd determined.
As part of his conditional release, Greenberg won’t be allowed to possess firearms or drugs and his travel will be restricted to the Middle District of Florida, which runs from Jacksonville to Naples.
It’s unclear what prompted the federal investigation into Greenberg’s office that started more than a year ago.
Attorney Brian Bieber, a partner with Gray Robinson law firm in Miami, said his firm was hired by the Tax Collector’s Office in April 2019 after federal authorities launched the inquiry.
Bieber, however, did not reveal any details of that investigation into Greenberg and directed any questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Essentially, the news and substance forming today’s [Greenberg] indictment was a shock and surprise to the [Tax Collector’s] office as a whole,” Bieber said.
Alan Byrd, a spokesman for Greenberg’s office, issued a short statement.
“The Seminole County Tax Collector’s offices are fully operational and serving the citizens of Seminole County,” Byrd said.
Since Greenberg was first elected in 2016 after defeating longtime incumbent Ray Valdes, he has faced a long list of controversies.
In December 2017, Greenberg turned on flashing white lights of his dark SUV and pulled over a Lake Mary woman in front of her neighborhood, telling her to stop speeding while wearing his office’s badge that resembled a law enforcement badge. The state attorney did not bring charges against Greenberg, but noted a badge he was carrying resembled a law enforcement badge and called his actions “inappropriate.”
A month later, Greenberg hid behind bushes and asked a Lake Mary police officer for “professional courtesy” as an elected official while trying to talk his way out of a speeding ticket.
“I’m just trying to stay off the front page of the damn newspaper: ‘Tax collector gets ticket’,” Greenberg could be heard saying on an officer’s video.
In January 2019, then Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office said in a non-binding opinion that because neither Greenberg nor his employees are law-enforcement officers, they should not openly carry firearms while on the job. Greenberg, who often wears a tax collector’s badge and openly carries a firearm, allowed his employees to strap guns to their waist soon after taking office.
A Sentinel investigation in October 2019 revealed that Greenberg handed out $3.5 million in consulting contracts to friends, business partners, campaign associates and members of his wedding party.
According to Florida law, Gov. Ron DeSantis has the power to suspend any elected municipal official who has been arrested or indicted for a felony or misdemeanor. The Governor’s press office said only that Greenberg’s indictment is “under review.”
J.R. Kroll, Greenberg’s other Republican opponent in the Aug. 18 party primary, said he has long warned Republicans in Seminole County that Greenberg is a “volatile” candidate. Greenberg is also opposed by Democrat Lynn Moira Dictor and non-party-affiliated candidate Dani Mora Day.
“This has always been my fear,” Kroll said. “He’s got a lot of issues. I said that he’s going to burn his own bridge, which he has already done.”
Dictor said she was “disgusted” by the allegations against Greenberg.
“I’m not surprised that there’s another example of corruption in that office,” she said. “I’m disgusted with his behavior, and Seminole County deserves better.”
mcomas@orlandosentinel.com, mcordeiro@orlandosentinel.com, jeweiner@orlandosentinel.com
