Seminole County Tax Collector resigns following indictment on stalking charges
Seminole County Tax Collector resigns following indictment on stalking charges
Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg has resigned from office a day after being indicted by federal prosecutors for stalking, and for the unlawful use of a means of identification of another person in alleged incidents targeting a political opponent.
LAKE MARY, Fla. - Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg has resigned from office a day after being indicted by federal prosecutors for stalking, and for the unlawful use of a means of identification of another person in alleged incidents targeting a political opponent.
Seminole’s deputy tax collector, Cynthia Torres, will take over the role of tax collector, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting.
United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announced the charges on Tuesday. The indictment stated that Greenberg attempted to cause substantial emotional distress to a political opponent who worked at a Florida school.
Prosecutors said Greenberg had letters sent to the school where the employee worked, claiming to be from an anonymous student of the school and stating that the school employee had engaged in sexual misconduct with the student.
The indictment stated that Greenberg knew this was false.
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Additionally, according to the indictment, Greenberg set up a Facebook account that claimed to belong to a concerned teacher at the school, where he made postings with that account falsely claiming that a school employee had engaged in sexual misconduct with a student.
The indictment also stated that Greenberg had an imposter Twitter account made of his opponent, where he claimed that he was a segregationist and in favor of white supremacy.
Greenberg, 35, was arrested at his home on Tuesday. If convicted on both counts, he reportedly faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.