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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft arrested for soliciting prostitution

Discussion in 'Football: NFL, College, High School' started by NewRoxFan, Feb 22, 2019.

  1. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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  2. zeeshan2

    zeeshan2 Member

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    So he’s admitting guilt?
     
  3. donkeypunch

    donkeypunch Contributing Member

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    Leave the man alone. Hes got billions of dollars and if he was to spend some of that on a rub and tug, let him do it.

    I just hope the women at these establishments arent the trafficked types, cause **** the sex trafficking trade.
     
  4. PhiSlammaJamma

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    Bout time. The only thing getting in his way was his ego. He really had nothing to gain, or will have anything to gain, by dragging this out even if he wins. Everyone knows he did it. Like most guys caught, he likely felt like the PD went to far for something so blah, which they kind of did, and he didn't want to give in to that. But he's in a no win situation anyway. What he failed to realize is that when you apologize, people drop it, it's America, but when you fight it, like Clemens or Clinton, they will drag you through the mud for as long as they possibly can. If there is one thing wrong with the Patriot way, it's this tragic flaw of not giving in when busted.
     
    #124 PhiSlammaJamma, Mar 23, 2019
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2019
  5. PhiSlammaJamma

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    I'd also like to note the apology isn't really an apology. While I think it works for him on the media level, at no point did he admit to what he did wrong, nor did he tell anyone how he will make good on it. That's telling. He clearly doesn't think he did anything wrong yet. I'm actually ok with that. Because I don't really see it as criminal either. However, if you are going to apologize, you need to do it the right way. He didn't really say anything.
     
    biff17 likes this.
  6. PhiSlammaJamma

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    I'd also like to note that Tiger Woods apology was one of the worst ever, however, it resonates with me because of one thing he said that had never really been said before on that level. "I felt entitled." He delivered it all wrong, but that feeling of entitlement really hits the mark for a lot of these situations and crimes that we put ourselves into. I don't see this as entitlement, Kraft just wanted some excitement, but still worth noting I think.
     
  7. solid

    solid Contributing Member

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    Why in the world would someone like that go to a sleazy place like that? He could have whatever, whenever, wherever.
     
  8. jordnnnn

    jordnnnn Member

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    Pleading not guilty. Wants a jury trial.
     
  9. edwardc

    edwardc Member

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    He's a single man out there trying to get it in no harm no foul 2 adults doing what adults do.
     
  10. edwardc

    edwardc Member

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    Tiger was married Kraft wasn't .
     
  11. tallanvor

    tallanvor Contributing Member

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  12. YOLO

    YOLO Member

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  13. TheRealist137

    TheRealist137 Member

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    as if my imagination needed a visual of Robert Kraft having a threesome :eek:
     
  14. Pistol Pete

    Pistol Pete Contributing Member
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    I haven't kept up with the details of this case.

    How did they video these acts? Did an undercover cop plant a camera? Was a warrant issued to surveil the place.

    I really don't like Robert Kraft. But I could care less if he got his knob polished.
     
    #135 Pistol Pete, Apr 23, 2019
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2019
  15. Nook

    Nook Member

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    This is so stupid.

    A 58 year old woman used her hand on men, in private, and now she is arrested and has $5,000 bond and has been told she cannot work in the spa business any more.

    Just dumb. The videotaping of the events was not proper, and will result in a massive lawsuit. I thought this whole thing was about ending human trafficking ..... but all we even hear about is old guys getting handies for $100 from old women.....
     
  16. The Real Shady

    The Real Shady Contributing Member

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  17. MystikArkitect

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    Everything is right except the “extraordinary respect for women part”. I doubt any NFL owner has a lot of respect for women.
     
  18. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    An attorney for Robert Kraft warned a Florida federal appeals court of a “police state” if videotaped evidence of the New England Patriots owner allegedly engaging in two misdemeanor acts of prostitution were to be allowed into the record.

    A lower state court has already suppressed the videotape from the January 2019 encounters between Kraft, now 79, and a masseuse at the Orchids of Asia spa in Jupiter, Fla., ruling in part the police did not do enough as legally required to minimize the taping of noncriminal activity. The police were investigating a series of spas for allegedly offering sex acts, and secretly installed cameras in the massage rooms.

    “Running across the state’s bid for reversal in all these cases is the specter of a police state,” said Derek Shaffer of Quinn, Emanuel, Urquhart & Sullivan, Kraft’s lawyer. “One where police could inject the most invasive forms of surveillance into the most sensitive and private of settings to investigate the most mundane offenses. Appellants stand together to defend the constitutional and judicial checks that have stood in the way of that. And that should continue to stand in the way of that in Florida, just as they do elsewhere in the country.”

    And the three-judge panel on Tuesday appeared receptive to that argument, at times all but suggesting lines of argument to the lawyers. Judge Melanie May even hinted that evidence from the police stopping Kraft’s car leaving the parking lot of the spa could be suppressed, which has not been requested by the Patriots owner.

    “Can I just ask you one quick question: Was there any challenge to the stop of your client?” she asked Shaffer toward the end of the roughly 90-minute hearing. “Because I note in the affidavit apparently all the patrons that left committed traffic violations, but in your client’s case, he was simply stopped leaving.”

    Shaffer readily agreed evidence generated by the stop should be suppressed.

    When news emerged that Kraft had visited the spa, including on the morning of his team’s 2019 AFC championship game in Kansas City, it generated intense coverage. The incident came on the heels of several unflattering portrayals of how NFL officials treated women. Jerry Richardson sold the Carolina Panthers after an NFL investigation substantiated claims made in a Sports Illustrated report of sexual harassment toward several female employees as well as racial misconduct, and several reports portrayed how teams treated cheerleaders in an unflattering light.

    And while from the tone of Tuesday’s hearing it appears that the appeals panel is apt to uphold the lower court decision to suppress, that didn’t mean Kraft wasn’t painted in an unsavory way.

    “Well, these defendants didn’t leave on their underwear,” state deputy solicitor general Jeffrey DeSousa argued in the context of whether police secret cameras in the spa should have only run when a patron was fully unclothed. “Mr. Kraft removed his immediately. His first massage was on day two of the operation. He took his off immediately apparently, that’s an indication that he’s going to pay for sex. So we were authorized to film that.”

    The hearing did not address the issue of whether Kraft actually committed the acts alleged, but whether the tape depicting them is admissible. These arguments largely revolved around criminal law: whether the warrant application to install the camera was legal, should all the evidence get tossed just because some of it captured innocent people, did the police do enough to investigate the spa before relying on secret cameras. And DeSousa dismissed presiding Judge Robert Gross’ question of should the cameras have stopped simply because female massage customers entered.

    “Your Honor, imagine a warrant that says law enforcement can record what goes on inside of a drug house and the probable cause for that warrant was 100 percent men went in and out and bought drugs,” DeSousa said. “It would be an unfounded gender stereotype to say that men, that the law enforcement officers could not record a woman who went into the drug house simply because the probable cause was based on men. There’s nothing in our law, or our Constitution, which says that women necessarily cannot pay for prostitution.”

    The NFL has thus far levied no punishment against Kraft under its personal conduct policy.

    “We’ve previously said we would wait until after the legal proceedings concluded before making any decisions on next steps,” the league said in a statement Tuesday.

    In March 2019, Kraft said in a statement, “I know I have hurt and disappointed my family, my close friends, my co-workers, our fans and many others who rightfully hold me to a higher standard.

    “Throughout my life, I have always tried to do the right thing. The last thing I would ever want to do is disrespect another human being. I have extraordinary respect for women; my morals and my soul were shaped by the most wonderful woman, the love of my life, who I was blessed to have as my partner for 50 years.”
     
  19. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    A happy ending indeed

     

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