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Robert Kraft, chief executive officer of the Kraft Group and owner of the New England Patriots football team, attends the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 5, 2016 in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Prosecutors in Florida reportedly have offered Robert Kraft, the owner of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, a chance to avoid prosecution for soliciting prostitution in exchange for an admission that he could be proved guilty at trial.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that the billionaire Kraft, and other defendants recently charged in a prostitution case, has been offered a so-called deferred prosecution deal by authorities in Palm Beach County, Fla.
“The proposed deferred prosecution agreement calls for completion of an education course about prostitution, completion of 100 hours of community service, screening for sexually transmitted diseases and payment of some court costs,” the Journal reported.
Kraft’s lawyer, William Burck, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC. A spokeman for the Palm Beach County State’s Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kraft, 77, was charged in February with more than two dozen other people in a police sting as part of a human trafficking probe focused on massage parlors in Florida. Kraft was hit with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution, and has pleaded not guilty.
The businessman, who is scheduled to be arraigned in the case March 28, was not accused of human trafficking.
Authorities said Kraft had visited a spa in Jupiter, Fla. on two consecutive days, Jan. 19 and Jan. 20, in two different Bentleys, and received sexual services in exchange for money. Both visits were captured by surveillance cameras police had hidden in the Orchids of Asia Day Spa.
Kraft’s second visit occurred just hours before he watched his Patriots defeat the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game in Kansas City.
A spokesman for Kraft had said after his arrest, “We categorically deny that Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity. Because it is a judicial matter, we will not be commenting further.”
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