Texas Man Sentenced To Over 7 Years In Federal Prison For Honest Services Fraud

Orlando, FL – U.S. District Judge Gregory A. Presnell today sentenced Michael Shirley (40, Austin, TX) to seven years and three months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and honest services fraud. As part of his sentence, the court also entered an order of forfeiture in the amount of $536,402.33, which are the proceeds of the offenses. Shirley was found guilty following a jury trial on July 27, 2023.

According to the evidence presented at trial, Shirley served as a campaign consultant for former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg in 2016. After Greenberg was elected, Greenberg and Shirley, through Shirley’s company Praetorian Integrated Services LLC, entered into a lucrative contract that provided Shirley with $12,500 each month for the performance of consulting services to the Tax Collector’s office. In that capacity, the evidence established that Shirley did little to no work. Additionally, Shirley began submitting grossly inflated invoices to the Tax collector’s office for printing services.

On September 25, 2017, Shirley, through Joseph Ellicott, paid Greenberg a $6,000 cash kickback and bribe. Ellicott was sentenced for his role in this scheme in 2022 and testified during the trial. As a result of the kickback and bribe, Shirley was allowed to continue billing the Seminole County Tax Collector’s office into September 2019. The evidence established that between October 2017 and September 2019, Shirley performed almost no work for the Tax Collector’s office. As a result of the kickback and bribery scheme, Shirley defrauded the taxpayers of Seminole County out of more than $634,000.

This case was investigated by United States Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Amanda Daniels and Chauncey Bratt.