Robert Kraft ramps up his defense
Kraft has hired William A. Burck and Jack Goldberger.
A little more than a week after prosecutors in Florida charged Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, with soliciting prostitution, what ordinarily would be a minor case has become a legal battle involving some of the most expensive and sought-after lawyers in the country.
To lead his defense, Kraft, a billionaire friend of President Donald Trump and one of the most powerful owners in the NFL, has retained William A. Burck, who was a lawyer in the George W. Bush White House and had a role in the screening of documents related to Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s recent Supreme Court nomination. Kraft has also hired Jack Goldberger, the Florida lawyer who defended Jeffrey E. Epstein, a wealthy New York financier accused of trafficking underage girls for sex.
Goldberger and Burck did not return calls for comment, but they could mount an aggressive defense by poking holes in video evidence that may prove that Kraft did not ask anyone for sex and by arguing police violated Kraft’s Fourth Amendment rights during an improper traffic stop, among other arguments.
Prosecutors in Palm Beach County, Florida, have taken a hard line on Kraft and the two dozen other individuals who have been accused of soliciting prostitution at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa, a massage parlor and salon in a Jupiter, Florida, strip mall about a 30-minute drive from Kraft’s home in Palm Beach. Last week, they increased the severity of the charges, from second-degree to first-degree misdemeanors.
Prosecutors say Kraft’s arrest was a part of a larger, six-month investigation into human trafficking at nearly a dozen businesses in Florida.
Prosecutors have acknowledged that Kraft and the other men charged in the case probably had no knowledge of whether human trafficking was involved. But Kraft’s wealth and notoriety have turned what would have been a local story into an international one.
Kraft is likely to be in little legal danger. He has been charged with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting a prostitute, and he faces up to a year in jail, a $5,000 fine and 100 hours of community service. But he is unlikely to spend a day in jail. Prosecutors often offer first-time offenders a chance to pay a fine and perform community service, while not admitting fault.
