Robert Kraft could face felony charge, five-year prison sentence in prostitution case

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Yahoo Sports

Ben Weinrib

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is facing intensifying pressure from Florida prosecutors as they seek to increase charges against him in a wide-ranging prostitution case.

According to a report from the Sun-Sentinel’s Marc Freeman, state lawyers have filed a request to the Florida Attorney General’s office to increase Kraft's charge from two misdemeanors to a third-degree felony, which could earn him up to five years in prison.

Kraft previously pleaded not guilty to the two misdemeanor charges in March — stemming from two January 2019 incidents — and has requested a jury trial.

The request to enhance the charge is quite unusual but would also depend on the state winning an appeal of a lower court ruling that tossed out video evidence against Kraft.

Read more: https://sports.yahoo.com/robert-kraft-felony-five-year-prison-sentence-prostitution-case-181900484.html

[dhill926]

1. he'll serve as many days in jail...

as trump.....

[Sherman A1]

4. Yup

Nothing will happen to him.

[SergeStorms]

2. Yeah, right.

There's as much chance of that happening as there is Donald Trump becoming a kind, compassionate human being. ZERO!

[Sneederbunk]

3. +1

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. So, to keep track, this was at the brothel founded by Cindy Yang, who is under investigation

for funnelling foreign money to the Trump campaign, while selling access to Trump and having close links to the Chinese government: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_%22Cindy%22_Yang

How anyone could ever say there is the appearance of blackmail, bribery, and corruption around Trump, I can't imagine ...

[pbmus]

6. Yuuuuuuk, videotapes of Kraft and his sex capades...

[SCVDem]

7. You or me are toast!

Equal justice under law my ass.

Perhaps it is time for this failed experiment to die!

INEQUALITY!

[getagrip_already]

9. There won't be a conviction because of illegal acts by ham fisted police... not kraft's connections

The use of hidden video in a private business where people get disrobed as a matter of convenience is highly unethical and probably illegal at its core. That's why it was tossed out.

How would you feel if the police put a hidden camera in your doctors office? Or maybe in hotel rooms and recorded everyone to see if anything illegal went on?

How many hundreds of recordings did they make that didn't show anything? Remember, this went on for nine months in a business that served thousands including women who didn't know it offered men's services, and only 100 or so prosecutions were made.

The warrant was improper and everything obtained by it is tainted.

And without that evidence, there is no case. I'm not saying he is is a saint; the tapes do show evidence of a crime (or the police wouldn't move forward). I'm saying the evidence and every use of any evidence like it should be thrown out.

Period.

The fact that prosecutors doubled the penalties because he wouldn't deal, and took apart their case for the entire operation is just punitive bs. But that is what they do.

[RhodeIslandOne]

10. Booby certainly knows a lot about video.

Anyway, Go Dolphins.

[getagrip_already]

12. has nothing to do with cheating at futbol......

and kraft and company know that well.

This is an abuse of power case. It was never about trafficking; it was about a body count. Otherwise why run the cameras for 9 months? That put the workers, and any new ones, in continued danger. They always knew there were no underage workers and that the workers who were there wouldn't claim they were being forced to work there (which is what the meekly mentioned well after all the bombshells were dropped on the national stage.

And fwiw, I hate the patriots and brady in particular.

[JonLP24]

13. If they were selling drugs that place would be wired

Investigations take a long time depending on the target and the type of evidence they are collecting.

If police are doing warrant-less investigations I don't support that but I think because Kraft is so rich & powerful that harmed their case

---------

— PUTTING UP A FIGHT

Palm Beach County prosecutors say it was simply Kraft’s “bad luck and bad timing” that he happened to be in the Orchids of Asia Day Spa when the secret police cameras were turned on.

But another view is that it was their terrible luck that Kraft, a 77-year-old who has a home in Palm Beach, was among the people Jupiter police caught in the act.

In all previous prostitution stings at South Florida massage parlors — including a few with similar sneak-and-peek warrants for secret cameras — the cases resolved quietly and mostly out of the spotlight.

https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/05/19/bungled-from-the-beginning-how-robert-kraft-sex-sting-was-marred-by-cops-missteps/

[getagrip_already]

18. not really in this case...

Voice wires, or cameras in public places or normal businesses are one thing. Cameras in places where both innocent men and woman go to relax is a completely different case.

The whole premise the warrant was based on was bogus from the start. There were no under age workers and the police knew that. All the workers were well above 30. They also knew from past arrests of these parlor workers that none would claim they were being trafficked.

So no, there was no painstaking collection of evidence. They just waited for another trick to be pulled and made another arrest.

The snip you posted was right about one thing though. Most cases were disposed of quietly. Thats what the cops count on. Take the guilty plea, pay the fines, and keep your damn mouth shut.

Stand up to them and they up the charges. Justice florida style.

But it's unjust no matter who the target is. This was played to tv cameras without a hoot for the workers. Look up what charges were brought against the owners/operators. Then watch the press conference. No correlation between the two. Just a lot of arrests based on what the courts agreed was improper procedure.

Police now have access to every internet connected camera in your home or phone - if they can get a warrant. This proves its easy to find a judge to let them do it with a corrupt story. Do you want them using it on you?

[JonLP24]

19. I wasn't with the cops working the case and neither are you

The defendant's lawyer is making the case you're making but from what I understand the OP they are appealing the decision to block the video.

I don't know if they were or not painstaking collection of evidence but I know in investigations you keep gathering string.

[getagrip_already]

20. This wasn't gathering string, it was merely adding to the body count...

Over 9 months. And to what end?

Certainly NOT what they said in the petition to the court for a warrant. That was based on child endangerment and human trafficking. If that had been their goal, they could have determined it after the first few videos and made arrests. Sorry, either there were kid working or there weren't. You don't need 9 months to wait for one to show up (and btw, over dozens of busts of these massage outfits, none were ever found).

This was a blatant violation of civil rights. The court already agreed with that by throwing out the evidence. Of course prosecutors are appealing - it leaves them with nothing but disgrace. As it should.

I'm not hopeful FL courts will have a civil rights viewpoint, especially the FL sc. So it may get overturned. But it was still wrong. It was still a violation of civil rights.

But hopefully they understand the implications of setting up broad un-targeted surveillance inside hotel rooms, or rest rooms, or anywhere the public has a reasonable expectation of privacy. Because if they wanted to target trafficking, video surveillance of major hotel chain rooms would be a good place to gather evidence. Of course they would be monitoring unsuspecting travelors, families, lovers, and children; but hey, it would all be legal, right? Strings. We must gather the strings!

[bucolic_frolic]

8. Disinformation dangled publicly to maintain the appearance of justice and control the populace

It also helps protect bigger crooks

[dalton99a]

11. He will serve zero days in Florida.

[ChubbyStar]

15. But the lowly Miami Dolphins just BEAT the patriots

SWEET!

[Maxheader]

16. And KC..

will be a number 2 seed because they won and brady ate a big one...

[empedocles]

14. Some of these things, especially these days, have a way of becoming more . . .

complicated . . .

[rockfordfile]

17. He should have to sell the team

Heck even last week Jerry Jones was with the corrupt pos Chris Christie .