Patriots owner is offered a plea deal
Prosecutors in Florida have offered plea deals to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and 24 other men charged as part of prostitution stings that would allow the men to avoid criminal convictions in exchange for performing community service.
The plea offers made by the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office would require Kraft and the others to admit they likely would be found guilty in the event of a trial, perform 100 hours of community service, pay court costs and attend a class on the dangers of prostitution. Commonly known as pretrial diversion or deferred prosecution, the offer is regular practice in cases such as this, involving nonviolent charges and defendants without criminal records, according to Mike Edmondson, spokesperson for the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office.
“This is a standard firsttime offender plea offer,” Edmondson said. The plea offer was first reported Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal.
Kraft’s attorney, Jack Goldberger, did not reply to requests to comment Tuesday. Kraft, 77, faces two charges of soliciting a prostitute, over allegations he twice paid attendants at a Jupiter, Florida, massage parlor in January for sex acts.
Kraft has pleaded not guilty, and has publicly denied committing any crimes, despite law enforcement’s claims of video evidence.