Joel Greenberg Associate’s Bahamas Cruise Violated Release Terms, Judge Rules

A federal magistrate ordered that Keith Ingersoll, an associate of former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, be detained for violating the conditions of his pre-sentencing release by boarding a cruise ship to the Bahamas last month, just days after he pleaded guilty to taking part in a real estate scheme that bilked an investor of millions of dollars.

Ingersoll was arrested early Monday and he is currently being held at the Orange County Jail. 

Ingersoll pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one charge of wire fraud, one charge of attempted fraud and a charge of aggravated identity theft.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 18, and he faces the possibility of more than 20 years in federal prison. Ingersoll was allowed to remain free while awaiting sentencing, as long as he did not leave the Central Florida region.

But on Oct. 21, Ingersoll boarded a cruise ship, traveled to the Bahamas and then returned on Oct. 24 “without receiving advance permission” from a judge or from the court’s Pretrial Services, his defense attorney told the U.S. Magistrate Judge Leslie Hoffman Price during an afternoon court hearing on Monday, according to court records.

Price then ordered Ingersoll be held until his sentencing date “because the Defendant is unlikely to abide by any conditions or combination of conditions of release,” said her signed order.

In the real estate scheme, Ingersoll, James Adamczyk and others in 2016 teamed to scam a wealthy investor by convincing him they needed $12.7 million for deposits toward purchasing properties throughout the United States — including in Florida, Nebraska, Alabama and Illinois — and in the Bahamas, according to the plea agreement.

Adamczyk, who also faced federal fraud charges, died last month of cancer.

*Story sourced from Orlando Sentinel