ORLANDO, Fla. – An associate of former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg was sentenced to nine years in federal prison Monday after pleading guilty to multiple fraud charges.
Keith Ingersoll, 46, was ordered to pay nearly $13 million in restitution to an elderly real estate investor he defrauded, along with an additional $48,000 to the Seminole County government.
“My actions were wrong. Callous. Reckless,” Ingersoll said in court before learning his sentence. “I’m truly sorry.”
In 2017, while Greenberg was serving as tax collector, Ingersoll admitted to defrauding taxpayers by taking part in a real estate scheme involving Greenberg’s office.
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According to court papers, Ingersoll and other unnamed co-conspirators arranged for a “straw purchaser” to buy a building in Winter Springs for $680,000 that Greenberg wanted to use as a branch office.
Hours later, court records indicate the straw purchaser sold the building to the Seminole County Tax Collector’s Office for an inflated price of $942,000.
The $262,000 in profit from the real estate transaction was divided among Ingersoll and the conspirators, the plea agreement states.
Ingersoll, who was hired as a consultant to the tax collector’s office, later paid thousands of dollars in kickbacks to Greenberg, including more than $1,000 in casino chips, according to the plea agreement.
Ingersoll also admitted to defrauding a now 80-year-old real estate investor out of $12.7 million who believed Ingersoll was helping him buy properties in Florida, Alabama, Illinois, Nebraska and the Bahamas, according to the plea deal.
Ingersoll’s business partner, James Adamczyk, pleaded not guilty in 2021 to charges stemming from that same real estate fraud scheme.
Adamczyk died from complications related to cancer while awaiting trial.
Greenberg is serving an 11-year prison sentence for multiple federal offenses including child sex trafficking, aggravated identity theft and stalking.
Joseph Ellicott, another friend of Greenberg who was hired to work at the tax collector’s office, is serving a 15-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to a bribery scheme involving Greenberg.
Another Greenberg associate, Michael Shirley, has pleaded not guilty to charges related to that same bribery scheme.
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