Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Has Been Charged With Soliciting Prostitution
Patriots owner Robert Kraft was charged with two counts of soliciting prostitution at a Florida massage parlor on Friday, according to reports. In a press conference, police in Jupiter, Florida said the charges relate to "two different visits" to Orchids of Asia Day Spa. Charges have been filed, but Kraft has not yet been arrested.
"We categorically deny that Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity. Because it is a judicial matter, we will not be commenting further," a Patriots representative said in a statement to CNN.
Kraft is one of 25 suspects accused of the misdemeanor charges. Police say they planted undercover cameras in targeted massage parlors to tape interactions between men and female employees, according to the Associated Press. “We are as equally stunned as everyone else,” Jupiter Police Chief Daniel Kerr told the AP. According to a report on ESPN's SportsCenter on Friday, Kraft is not the most high-profile person caught in the sting.
Seventy-seven-year-old Kraft bought the Patriots for $172 million in 1994 and has, according to Forbes, grown it into a $3.7 billion team. Since '94, the team has won the Super Bowl 10 times. Kraft's fortune also comes from the paper and packaging manufacturing conglomerate, The Kraft Group. Forbes lists Kraft's 2018 net worth as $6.6 billion.
Kraft is a seasonal resident of Palm Beach County, where the Jupiter spa is located, according to the Palm Beach Daily News. Kraft is a long-time friend of President Donald Trump and has been pictured at Trump’s Palm Beach resort Mar-a-Lago.
Kraft and his wife Myra Hiatt created the Robert and Myra Kraft Family Foundation and the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation. Hiatt died in 2011, and Kraft has been dating 39-year-old actress Ricki Noel Lander since 2012, according to the AP.
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