Federal prosecutors on Tuesday accused a Florida man of trying to defraud House Rep. Matt Gaetz's father Don Gaetz out of $25 million, in a scheme allegedly linked to a criminal investigation targeting the Republican congressman.
In a newly unsealed indictment, prosecutors accused Stephen Alford, 62, of contacting Gaetz's father, a prominent Republican politician and a former member of the Florida State Senate, and demanding $25million.
Congressman Matt Gaetz is currently under criminal investigation over an allegation that he sex trafficked a minor, and prosecutors alleged that Alford falsely claimed he could help him obtain a pardon from former President Donald Trump.
Matt Gaetz has repeatedly denied the allegations, calling them a smear job, and has not been criminally charged. He has said repeatedly he will not resign from Congress.
In March, the congressman claimed that he was the victim of a $25 million extortion plot after it was revealed he is under investigation for sex trafficking over allegations he had a sexual relationship with a teenage girl, 17, and paid to have her travel with him.
Stephen Alford (left), 62, a former convict, has been indicted by the federal government for allegedly trying to extort $25million from the father of House Rep. Matt Gaetz (right)
Alford is alleged to have asked Gaetz's father, Don Gaetz (left), a prominent Florida Republican, to provide payment in exchange for a presidential pardon of his son. At Alford's behest, Don Gaetz met with former federal prosecutor David McGee (right), a Pensacola-based attorney. McGee told Don Gaetz that the money could be transferred to a trust account of his firm, it has been alleged
The Republican congressman and close ally of Donald Trump made the allegation during an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Matt Gaetz accused David McGee, a former federal prosecutor, of trying to extort millions of dollars out of him and his family in exchange for 'making horrible sex trafficking allegations against me go away.'
In May, an associate of Matt Gaetz, Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to six of the nearly three dozen charges he faced, including sex trafficking of a minor, and he admitted that he had paid at least one underage girl to have sex with him and other men.
The guilty plea was part of an agreement to cooperate with federal prosecutors in the sex trafficking investigation involving Gaetz.
Federal prosecutors are examining whether Matt Gaetz and Greenberg paid underage girls and escorts or offered them gifts in exchange for sex.
Investigators have also been looking at whether Matt Gaetz and his associates tried to secure government jobs for some of the women, the people said.
They are also scrutinizing Matt Gaetz's connections to the medical marijuana sector, including whether his associates sought to influence legislation he sponsored.
In March, Matt Gaetz appeared on Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News, claiming he was the victim of a $25 million extortion plot by a former Justice Department employee after it was revealed he is under investigation for sex trafficking over allegations he had a sexual relationship with a girl, 17, and paid to have her travel with him
Gaetz claimed he had been working with the FBI and his father Don Gaetz (pictured together) had been wearing a wire to expose the alleged scheme after learning of it in March
The Republican congressman and close ally of Donald Trump fired out a series of tweets claiming a former Justice Department employee had been trying to extort $25 million from him and his family while 'threatening to smear my name'
A spokesperson for the congressman has said Matt Gaetz 'never had sex with a minor and has never paid for sex.'
Matt Gaetz claimed he had been working with the FBI and his father Don Gaetz had been wearing a wire to expose the alleged scheme after learning of it earlier in March.
But McGee, an attorney at Beggs & Lane law firm in Pensacola and the former lead attorney for the DOJ's Organized Crime Task Force, said: 'It is completely false. It's a blatant attempt to distract from the fact that he's under investigation for sex trafficking of minors.
'I have no connection with that case at all, other than, one of a thousand people who have heard the rumors.'
The indictment against Alford does not refer directly to the embattled pro-Trump lawmaker or his father, a multimillionaire former healthcare executive who also served as president of Florida's state senate.
But the alleged plot was widely reported this year after Gaetz released documents he said showed an extortion plot against him.
Federal investigators are seeking to determine whether Gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old, according to news reports and a law enforcement source who spoke with Reuters.
said he and associates, including Bob Kent, were seeking to partner with the Gaetzes to rescue Robert Levinson (above), a CIA operative who disappeared in 2007. Levinson is seen left before he vanished. He is seen right in the only photos and video that emerged after his capture
Gaetz and his father Don Gaetz. Don served as a member of the Florida State Senate from 2006 to 2016
He has not been charged with any crimes and has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
Alford is in custody, federal prosecutors said, and it was not immediately clear if he had retained an attorney.
In an interview with the Northwest Florida Daily News earlier this year, Alford did not deny approaching the wealthy Gaetz family for money.
But he said he and associates, including Bob Kent, were seeking to partner with the Gaetzes to rescue Robert Levinson, a CIA operative who disappeared in 2007.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida.
In a press release, the office said Alford faces up to 25 years imprisonment on the charged crimes.
'Don came forward with credible information that he was being extorted,' Don Gaetz's lawyer, Jeffrey Neiman, told The Washington Post.
'He brought that information to the FBI’s attention.
'And it is clear today that based upon that credible information, after careful consideration, charges were brought against at least one individual responsible for this fraud scheme.'
The inquiry is said to be part of a wider probe into Florida official Joel Greenberg (pictured) who was slapped with a string of charges last year including sex trafficking of a minor between the age of 14 and 17. In May, Greenberg pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the investigation into Matt Gaetz
Gaetz shared this image on Facebook in July 2017 of himself with Greenberg and Roger Stone
According to the indictment, Don Gaetz met with McGee at Alford’s behest.
McGee told Don Gaetz that the money could be transferred to a trust account of his firm, it has been alleged.
McGee’s firm is the same one that is representing the Levinson family.
According to the indictment, Alford texted Don Gaetz after the meeting with the lawyer, informing the congressman’s father that he could secure Levinson’s release for a ‘significantly lower amount.’
Alford is also alleged to have promised Don Gaetz to take him ‘by the hand’ to see President Joe Biden about a pardon for his son.
According to authorities, Alford told Don Gaetz that he could ‘guarantee’ his son would not have to serve time in prison if the family paid money.
McGee has not been charged with a crime.
Harlan Hill, a spokesperson for Matt Gaetz, told the Post: ‘Five months ago today Rep. Gaetz asserted - after baseless allegations about him - that he was the victim of an extortion attempt.
‘One of the men involved in that attempt, Stephen Alford, was today indicted.
‘But Alford wasn’t acting alone.’
Hill said that McGree and Kent ‘must now also face justice.’
He said that Don Gaetz was wearing a wire for the FBI, and that audio recordings picked up by the wire ‘will further exculpate Rep. Gaetz and implicate those with long-standing links to the federal government.’
Alford has been charged with wire fraud as well as attempting to prevent the government from searching and seizing an iPhone during the investigation.
Alford is currently in the custody of the United States Marshals Service.
If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in federal prison.
In April, Alford told the Northwest Florida Daily News that he had been questioned by the FBI.
He has a lengthy rap sheet that includes stints in state prison.
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