Exiled NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick must have been smiling to himself when he learned that billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was being charged with soliciting prostitution from alleged sex trafficking workers.
Kaepernick also must be mulling this thought: he did not violate any laws but was subsequently banished from the sport for kneeling before the national anthem. What will be Kraft’s punishment for committing an actual crime?
Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots and one of the most powerful men in the National Football Leauge, was charged on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019, with two counts of soliciting prostitution in Florida, according to TCPalm.com.
This news comes weeks after his Patriots won Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. Deadspin reports that during a press conference Friday morning, Jupiter Police Chief Daniel Kerr announced that Kraft had been charged and that a warrant for his arrest will be formally sent from Florida’s state’s attorney’s office to Kraft’s home in Massachusetts.
Authorities also explained they have the evidence on tape and that Kraft was driven to the location to receive sexual services at the “massage parlor” on two separate occasions.
Kraft was busted during a recent law enforcement sting operation involving several massage parlors in Florida that were used for prostitution and human trafficking.
In total, 25 people were charged with soliciting prostitution at the Orchids of Asia Spa in Jupiter.
According to TCPalm.com, police said that the women lived at the spas and worked as prostitutes.
Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey told the publication that many sex workers immigrated from China on temporary work visas. They were made to believe that they were indebted to the brokers but also that legitimate jobs awaited them.
“Some of them are trying to make a better life for themselves,” Currey said, adding that they were shamed and intimidated into this line of work and ordered never to contact police or immigration officials. “These people truly are stuck.”
Other Chinese females answered what they thought were legitimate ads for masseuse jobs, but it was simply a ploy to get the women in and then force them into the sex game.
The Patriots’ phenomenal success of six Super Bowl wins has made Kraft one of the most powerful people in all of sports. He has also been a significant supporter of and contributor to President Donald Trump, giving millions to No. 45’s inaugural ball. This arrest is a source of great embarrassment for Kraft and his beneficiary, Trump.
Worse, Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, is a major crusader against sex and human trafficking. So this puts the Trumps in the awkward position of having to rebuke a famous billionaire supporter.
“Well, it’s very sad,” the president said about Kraft during an Oval Office press conference on Friday afternoon. “I was very surprised to see it. He’s proclaimed his innocence totally, but I’m very surprised to see it.”
