Wait… I thought the Robert Kraft prostitution trial story was over and done, wasn’t it? Apparently not. Back in May, a Florida judge agreed with Kraft’s lawyers that virtually all of the evidence against him had been collected improperly and tossed it. This left the prosecution with a case consisting almost entirely of hearsay and scant prospects for a conviction. But the state has appealed that decision and we’re still waiting for a ruling.
While all of that has been going on, the prosecutors have been discussing some seriously hardball tactics to use against the owner of the New England Patriots. Up until now, Kraft was only charged with a few misdemeanors that shouldn’t have resulted in more than a fine and perhaps some community service. But now, through an obscure legal tactic, they’re suggesting they might combine those charges together and hit Kraft with a low-level felony rap that could land him in prison for several years. (Sun Sentinel)
It’s been nearly a year since the 78-year-old part-time Palm Beach resident paid for sex acts at a Jupiter massage parlor likened to a brothel.
But now lawyers for the state are arguing for the first time that Kraft — charged with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution — actually committed a felony.
The latest court filing from the Attorney General’s Office suggests Kraft could face a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, if the state wins its appeal of a lower court order favoring the billionaire.
Elevating multiple misdemeanors to a felony would be an unusual move, for sure.
The “enhancement” in question is rarely used according to Florida legal analysts and never under circumstances like this. The provision is apparently designed to allow prosecutors to go after repeat offenders who habitually violate lower-level laws and combine a number of misdemeanor charges into a single, third-degree felony. But in Kraft’s case, he’s charged with incidents that all took place in a two day period and haven’t even resulted in a conviction. Kraft has no other criminal record that I’m aware of unless you count deflated footballs and videotapes of opposition practice.
This sounds to me as if the prosecutors are frustrated at the success Kraft’s legal team has had thus far and are looking to seriously stick it to him. Another possibility is that they are trying to force Kraft to fold his hand, plead guilty to the lower charges and go home. (Which is all they wanted in the first place.) As long as the worst he was facing was a fine that would be less than his bar tab on a trip to Florida and maybe a few weekends of community service, Kraft could afford to take this fight to the trenches. But the District Attorney might be gambling on the prospect of prison time leading to Kraft getting cold feet.
If I were the prosecutors, I wouldn’t hold my breath. As we discussed previously, the cops handed them a very bad case right from the beginning. It wasn’t just the way the (now suppressed) video evidence was collected that shoots holes in their case. The original warrant was improperly crafted and wouldn’t allow for the recording of so many other people who are accused of no crimes. Also, the cops were stopping everyone who left the spa over a period of days and collecting their ID even if they weren’t even suspected of having committed a crime.
Even if the state gets some of the evidence put back into play on appeal, there are other gaping holes in the prosecution’s case. It’s been obvious from the beginning that Bob Kraft had no intention of pleading guilty and taking a charge, even if it costs him millions of dollars to escape a fine of a few thousand bucks. He’s in this thing up to his hips at this point, so I’d be shocked if he copped a guilty plea now.