Robert Kraft’s lawyer says he doesn’t have to appear at March 28 court hearing
The Patriots owner is facing two charges of soliciting prostitution.
Robert Kraft is not required to appear at his next court hearing in person, according to his lawyer.
The 77-year-old Patriots owner’s arraignment on misdemeanor charges of soliciting prostitution at a Jupiter, Florida, spa was rescheduled this week for March 28, according to court documents filed Thursday, which indicated that Kraft would have to be there himself for the 9 a.m. hearing in Palm Beach.
“THE DEFENDANT MUST BE PRESENT AT THIS HEARING,” read the hearing notice filed Thursday.
However, Jack Goldberger, a West Palm Beach lawyer who is representing Kraft in the case, says defendants do not typically appear for arraignments on misdemeanors in the Florida legal system.
“This is a routine procedural hearing that the Court sets based on its schedule,” Goldberger told Boston.com in an email. “The notice of appearance by the defendant is boilerplate, but in fact the lawyer appears for the defendant in a misdemeanor case. The defendant does not appear.”
Kraft’s arraignment had previously been scheduled for March 27 — which would have conflicted with the annual NFL owners meetings in Phoenix (March 24-27). However, according to a separate document unsealed Thursday, the date change was made at the request of Judge Frank Castor.
Kraft has pleaded not guilty to the charges and, through a spokesman, has denied engaging in any illegal activity. However, police say they have video footage of the billionaire NFL owner paying for and receiving sexual acts from employees at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa on Jan. 19 and 20 — the latter of which was the day of the AFC Championship Game between the Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs, which he attended in Kansas City.
Kraft’s charges stem from a multi-county investigation into prostitution and human trafficking at massage parlors in the seaside area, which resulted in the closure of 10 spas and charges against more than 200 people, mostly for solicitation of prostitution. However, no trafficking charges have yet been filed.
The two misdemeanors Kraft faces each come with a maximum sentence of up to a year in jail, a $5,000 fine, and 100 hours of community service. But according to The New York Times, he is unlikely to face any jail time, as prosecutors usually offer first-time offenders a deal to pay a fine and perform community service.
Kraft has also bolstered his defense with a few high-profile lawyers. Leading his case is William A. Burck, a former attorney for President George W. Bush who vetted documents in Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s recent Supreme Court nomination, and Goldberger, who was part of the legal defense team for Jeffrey Epstein, a New York billionaire accused of trafficking teenage girls for sex at his Palm Beach mansion.
