Joel Greenberg's web of fabrications


In short: Joel Greenberg threw his former client Mike Shirley under the bus. Not only that, but he contradicted his own statements shortly before Mike's trial. To fully grasp why it's important to pardon Mike or commute his sentence read this article in its entirety.

It is well-known by now that Mike Shirley was the last victim of a pressure tactic designed to discredit Republicans all they way from the courthouse to the White House. He has not yet been pardoned and is serving a seven-year prison sentence for a crime he did not commit.

Shirley's disgraced former client, former Seminole County (Florida) Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, wove a web of fabrications in order to implement a desperate plan by the Joe Biden administration to take down GOP rivals across the board, from local races to the highest levels of U.S. politics.

Greenberg, who faced a long litany of legitimate charges (see below), achieved his goal of a lighter sentence by smearing others -- including getting Shirley indicted.

The Biden regime had a more sinister goal: to create a farcical narrative that would haunt Republicans in the 2022 and 2024 elections. If Shirley had bowed to the pressure of "admitting" to Greenberg's and the Biden regime's false narratives, the damage would have been much greater to Republican candidates at numerous levels. Fortunately for conservatives, Shirley refused to play games. Shirley would not lie about leaders such as President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, newly appointed Senator Ashley Moody, and now-former Congressman Matt Gaetz. Unfortunately, and due to the weaponization of the Department of Justice under the Biden Administration, that also meant any offer of a lighter sentence for Shirley was off the table. 

Now Shirley is serving seven years in prison. How did it get to this point? Let's take a look at Greenberg's bio, including his career, his moral failings, and how all of this factored into Mike Shirley becoming a scapegoat.

THE BACKSTORY
Joel Micah Greenberg, age 41, is the son of the founder of Greenberg Dental, a chain of around 90 dental clinics throughout Florida -- a "trust fund kid" by any definition.

According to various sources, he had difficulties in public school owing to Attention Deficit Disorder and Tourette's Syndrome. This led to his enrollment in a military prep school.

Greenberg later attended Rollins College in Florida, a private university charging an average of $58,300 per year for tuition and fees. While Greenberg did not graduate, he found notoriety writing sports articles for the Orlando Sentinel newspaper and hosted a sports talk show titled "The Joel Greenberg Show," which aired on Yahoo! Sports Radio in Orlando.

Greenberg later formed a successful advertising agency, DG3 Media Group, which specialized in outdoor, radio, and digital ads, having reported $8 million in revenue in 2014.

This is the kind of man who would be difficult to bribe given the vast resources available to him. But that didn't stop federal prosecutors from using alleged bribery as a tool. But first let's take a look at Greenberg's next career move.


FORAY INTO POLITICS
In 2016, Greenberg was elected Tax Collector of Seminole County, Florida, after running a reportedly self-funded campaign. He defeated incumbent Ray Valdes, who had held the office for 30 years, thanks in large part to the efforts of Shirley's successful consulting firm. Shirley's firm would later be a contractor for the Tax Collector's office, providing numerous services, even printing.

Often described as rising star in Central Florida politics, Greenberg's public service ascent was cut short on June 24, 2020, when he resigned from office a day after his arrest by federal agents.


CRIMINAL CHARGES
Greenberg was at first arrested for stalking and identity theft because he was smearing one of his opponents online and in letters during his reelection. Later he was charged with sex trafficking of a minor that he had met online while she was posing as a 19 year old escort.

Greenberg was reported to have spent around $1 million on purchases while in office -- including and alleged $38,000 for body armor and $15,000 for  tactical water sprinklers.

During his re-election bid, Greenberg was accused of creating fake Facebook accounts and sending falsified letters making claims of sexual misconduct against an opponent, and impersonating a law enforcement officer on two separate occasions -- to stop a woman while driving, and to try to evade a speeding ticket himself.

Federal agents arrested Greenberg at his home on June 23, 2020, on the identity theft and stalking charges. A count of sex trafficking a 17-year-old female was added in August of that year.

Greenberg violated his bond release conditions by traveling to South Florida outside of his geographic restrictions looking for his wife. Greenberg was confronted by police at his wife's parents' house and he was allowed to return to Orlando. Later, he was arrested after a several hour stand off with Seminole County sheriff deputies at his home. He told deputies that he had wired his house with improvised explosives to deter arrest. Greenberg remained in county jail for 2 years before being sentenced.(NOTE: this marks a significant turn in the trial. See "Implicating Shirley" section below.)

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) then piled on 21 additional criminal charges, including cryptocurrency fraud, SBA loan fraud (allegedly receiving fraudulent COVID-19 loans for two defunct corporations), wire fraud, conspiracy to bribe a public official, and theft of government property. 

For all of the above charges, he faced 12 years minimum and possibly life.


'PLACES WE DID NOT ANTICIPATE'
With the specter of life in jail over Greenberg's head, he immediately began to cooperate with federal investigators in hopes of leniency. This involved a probe into then-Congressman Gaetz, a Florida Republican known for his forthright demeanor and unapologetic conservative orientation (in other words, no friend of the Biden regime). Gaetz, at around that same time frame, was implicated in a sex-trafficking scandal, although the Congressman was never charged with a crime.

In April 2021, Greenberg's attorney announced that his client planned to plead guilty as part of a plea agreement with the government to avoid a possible life sentence. On May 17, 2021, Greenberg pleaded guilty to six federal charges: sex trafficking of a child, production of a false identification document, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, stalking, and conspiracy. 

As part of the plea deal, he agreed to cooperate with the Biden DOJ in an ongoing investigation and to serve the minimum 12-year sentence.

The plea agreement documents state that Greenberg paid a minor female to have sex with him and other men and he engaged in sex acts with a minor at least seven times while she was underage. He must therefore register as a sex offender in Florida.

Greenberg did not implicate others by name but admitted that he "introduced the minor to other adult men, who engaged in commercial sex acts."

Federal judge Gregory Presnell (hang on to that name) accepted Greenberg's plea agreement on June 3, 2021. After some delays on sentencing, prosecutors also asked Judge Presnell for more time, stating that Greenberg was a "prolific criminal" who had made allegations that "take us to some places we did not anticipate."

Greenberg was finally sentenced on Dec. 1, 2022, to 11 years in prison.


IMPLICATING SHIRLEY
Not until Greenberg's pre-trial release was revoked did he go into overdrive creating a fiction that Shirley bribed him and that Shirley was involved in an illegal scheme to help elect Republicans.

As a matter of fact, March 23, 2021, was the first time Greenberg had ever declared Shirley had done anything wrong. Prior to that, Greenberg had stated no wrong was done to him according to a letter written from prison (see more here).

What changed? Biden-era federal prosecutors took advantage of Greenberg's incarceration to coax him into making up a story about Shirley being part of an umbrella organization that would funnel illegally obtained money to Republican candidates and officeholders.

(NOTE: Numerous documents and testimonies tell a more detailed story, which may be viewed here.)

This little conspiracy theory further fueled the Biden regime's quest at creating a grander conspiracy to discredit Trump and his allies -- so much so, that the Biden DOJ said all of Shirley's political donations were "bribes" to Greenberg. 

Keep in mind, Greenberg is a wealthy man whose company made millions pre-sale, in addition to any family wealth. But that didn't stop the Biden regime from sending a "discovery letter" declaring a $74 check to the tax collector's office for his yearly car registration fee for the state was a "bribe."

Yes, seventy-four dollars.

Greenberg would later walk back the ridiculous allegation, but unfortunately he was not a witness at Mike Shirley's 2023 sham trial -- also presided over by Judge Presnell. Even the bribery charges were abandoned with so little evidence to prove them. The Biden admin's only witness would also recant the bribery allegation -- another article on that coming soon. Shirley was recast into a "public servant" (though a contractor) by the prosecution and presented with phony "honest services fraud" charges.

Greenberg is doing time at a camp for MCI Miami, a minimum security prison facility, where Shirley is also currently assigned.

Disclaimer: Every detail described in this article can either be found on our blog or on Greenberg's Wikipedia article.