WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) – New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has pleaded not guilty to two counts of misdemeanor solicitation of prostitution in a Florida case, according to court documents released Thursday.
Kraft’s attorney Jack Goldberger filed the written plea with the Palm Beach County court on Wednesday. Kraft, 77, is requesting a non-jury trial.
Kraft was among hundreds of men charged in a crackdown on massage parlor prostitution and an investigation into human trafficking at Florida spas. Ten spas have been closed and several people, mostly women originally from China, have been charged with running the operation.
Jupiter, Florida, police say in court documents that Kraft was chauffeured to the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in a 2014 white Bentley on the evening of Jan. 19, where investigators say they videotaped him engaging in a sex act and then handing over an undetermined amount of cash.
Kraft returned 17 hours later, arriving at the upper-middle class shopping center where the spa was located in a chauffeured 2015 blue Bentley, the documents said. Kraft, who is worth $6 billion, was videotaped engaging in sex acts before paying with a $100 bill and another bill, police said. He then flew to Kansas City to watch his Patriots defeat the Chiefs in overtime hours later.