The Palm Beach State Attorney’s office has released probable cause documents for the men charged in their bust on sex trafficking rings across South Florida. That group includes Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who, if you haven’t heard, is facing two charges of soliciting prostitution at the Orchids of Asia day spa. With the release of those documents, Kraft’s name is now connected to “Male 13,” whose actions were anonymously described along with those of 25 other men in Friday’s probable cause affidavit for Orchids of Asia owner Hua Zhang. Here’s what it has to say about Kraft:
Take note of that date. In my scrutinizing of the original affidavit on Friday in an attempt to figure out which unnamed male was Kraft, I totally threw out every john from that day. It just seemed unlikely, if not too weird even to be possible. That’s because Jan. 20, 2019, was the same day that the Patriots beat the Chiefs to win the AFC Championship. So Robert Kraft went to a seedy massage parlor in a Florida strip mall at 11 a.m. that Sunday, then presumably got on his private plane and flew to Kansas City, where he watched the NFL team he owns punch a ticket to the Super Bowl. Rich people are so fucking bizarre.
Update (2:44 p.m. ET) Kraft has also been identified as Male 8, which accounts for his second count of soliciting prositution. Yes, he went twice in less than 24 hours:
Update (3:17 p.m. ET): At a press conference to announce the filing of charges by prosecutors, Palm Beach County state attorney Dave Aronberg went into more details about the case as well as answering questions. The charges are first-degree misdemeanors, punishable by up to one year in jail, a $5,000 civil fine, as well as a mandatory 100 hours of community service and taking part in an education program on the negative effects of prostitution and human trafficking.
“We made the decision that enough evidence exists to file charges in all 25 of these cases,” Aronberg said.
As for how the charged men will be notified, Aronberg said men who live in Palm Beach County will receive a summons through the mail to appear in court. A low-level warrant, called a capias, will be issued for those who live outside the county. Aronberg said “there is no requirement” to return to county and appear in court meet the requirements of such a warrant.
When asked if it was possible that Kraft was targeted, Aronberg quickly rebuked that idea.
“I don’t understand how someone could be a target. You look at all the defendants in this matter, and they come from all walks of life,” Aronberg said, adding soon afterward, “I don’t believe anyone was targeted.”
And to the reporting that even more powerful people than Kraft were going to be named in the case, Aronberg replied, “That would be news to me. I also added that it’s hard for me to talk about rumors, especially false ones.”
Deadspin senior editor Diana Moskovitz contributed to this report.