“Big Joe” Ellicott, a former Florida shock jock with potentially key information about the sex trafficking ring involving Rep. Matt Gaetz, has pleaded guilty in federal court.
Ellicott is the long-time best friend of former tax collector Joel Greenberg who was Gaetz’s wingman in the underage sex trafficking operation.
Ellicott knew intimate details about the young girl who was paid for sex by the group and provided a text that essentially showed their attempts to coverup the information about sex with an underage individual from the federal investigators.
On January 18, Ellicott signed a plea agreement that admitted to two crimes:
- fraud for agreeing to “pay bribes and kickbacks” to a public official (Greenberg)
- illegally selling the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder prescription medicine Adderall
Joe Zwick, an attorney for Ellicott, told The Daily Beast that his client has been cooperating in the sex trafficking case against Gaetz. That case is being handled by Justice Department prosecutors in Washington, D.C., and is separate from the local ongoing investigation into Greenberg and the tax office, which gave rise to the charges in Ellicott’s case.
Zwick said a date had been set for February for a plea hearing.
Meanwhile, the agreement requires Ellicott to cooperate in other prosecutions, in exchange for escaping formal charges from a grand jury.
The agreement also offers sweeping immunity from “any other federal offenses known to the U.S. Attorney’s Office” relating to the two crimes.
Congressman Gaetz’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
