https://nypost.com/2019/02/28/how-patriots-owner-robert-kraft-could-get-off-in-prostitution-case/
The prostitution case against Patriots owner Robert Kraft linked to a Florida sex-trafficking ring could be a long shot for prosecutors — partly because the women he was caught on video with are the 45-year-old spa manager and a 58-year-old licensed masseuse, according to legal experts.
Kraft is charged with
two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution after twice visiting Jupiter “rub and tug” massage joint Orchids of Asia Day Spa. Police say the business has ties to an international human-trafficking and prostitution ring, and some of the women at the Asian spa and five other affiliated Florida properties are sex slaves from China.
But it appears Kraft was caught on camera getting services from two women who are not victims of human trafficking: the 45-year-old manager of the spa, Lei Wang, and 58-year-old spa employee Shen Mingbi, also believed to be an operator of the business — both licensed masseuses and Florida residents.
Kraft allegedly visited Orchids of Asia first on Jan. 19, a day after police — who had been investigating the joint for at least six months — had set up surveillance cameras inside the business, located 17 miles from the 77-year-old billionaire NFL owner’s Palm Beach apartment.
According to the affidavit, Kraft paid cash at the front desk and then went to another room, where he took off his clothes. He was accompanied by Wang and Mingbi, who allegedly massaged him lying face-down before turning him over and performing a sex act by hand.
Wang, identified by police as the manager of the massage parlor nicknamed “Lulu,” was arrested and faces charges of maintaining a house of ill fame and deriving profits from prostitution. Mingbi, an employee of the spa, has not been arrested or charged and is believed to be cooperating with authorities. Kraft was seen tipping them $100 each before leaving.
Kraft left the spa in a white Bentley owned by a friend who had driven him there and had waited outside. A Jupiter police officer then pulled the Bentley over on a traffic stop and asked Kraft — the front-seat passenger — for identification.
The billionaire handed over his Massachusetts driver’s license. Legal experts suggest this traffic stop could be illegal because it appears to have been done on the pretext of a traffic violation, but — as the affidavit states — was in fact carried out to identify Kraft, who wasn’t driving the car.
Kraft’s second visit was on the following day, Jan. 20,
the morning of the AFC Championship Game, and he was allegedly seen on video with Lulu, who massaged him face-down before turning him over and appearing to put her face near his genitals, the affidavit states. He gave her a $100 bill and two other unidentified bills before leaving.
Despite the video evidence, which does not have audio, legal experts say the case against Kraft is “flawed.” Through his spokesman, the NFL team owner has denied having solicited prostitutes.
Eric Snyder, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan DA’s Office and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and now a high-profile trial lawyer, believes there are glaring issues in the case.
Snyder — who is not involved in the Florida sex-trafficking case and is not representing Kraft — said, “A number of things jump out for me after reading the affidavit. When the police allege that vulnerable women are effectively being held as sex slaves, I would ask why the police didn’t move faster to get these women out of danger?
“Looking at the case against Kraft, there are a lot of big holes. First of all, the women he was with appear to have been operators of the massage parlor. One was arrested and the other one appears to be a cooperating witness, which is why she is named in the affidavits but wasn’t arrested. Prosecutors and police do not leave victims’ name unredacted in the reports they release.
“There’s also no proof in the affidavit that he solicited anything from the women. It is possible that this could have been a legal and consensual act between adults and there does not seem to be evidence to prove otherwise. So the facts supporting a misdemeanor charge of solicitation really don’t jump out at you.
“Second, the video was probably not legally obtained, the police seemed to ignore the necessity requirement for such an intrusive measure like planting a camera in the premises.” (The law stipulates police should only seek warrants for surveillance cameras if no other evidence is available to support their case, so Kraft’s lawyers could argue the video footage is not legal and an invasion of privacy.)
“And third, I doubt the traffic stop was legal either. So the evidence will likely be suppressed [by Kraft’s legal team] if there is ever a trial.”
Florida law enforcement officers say they are pursuing similar solicitation charges against more than 100 other men who allegedly paid women — some who may have been trafficked and kept in “sexual servitude” — at the day spas. It is not believed that any of the men arrested so far, including Kraft, knew that some of the women at the spas were victims of sex trafficking.
https://nypost.com/2019/02/25/robert-kraft-paid-for-sex-hours-before-afc-championship-court-papers/
Many of the 26 customers first named by police as having solicited prostitution and recorded on video surveillance were identified during routine traffic stops after leaving the Asian spa, the affidavit states. A spokesperson for Jupiter police could not be reached.
The authorities believe Orchids of Asia and four other Florida spas were involved in human trafficking by recruiting women for sexual exploitation. They say many of the women came from China under the guise of legitimate jobs in the spas, were forced to work in the sex trade and confined to the venues, eating and sleeping in the back of the businesses.
“These cases aren’t about any one defendant or any group of defendants,” State Attorney Dave Aronberg said. “The larger picture, which we must all confront, is the cold reality that many prostitutes in cases like this are victims, often lured into this country with promises of a better life, only to be forced to live and work in a sweatshop or a brothel, subject to force, fraud or coercion.”
He noted during a press conference while talking about “modern-day slavery” that of the men charged with soliciting prostitution, “There’s no allegation that any defendant [charged or accused of soliciting prostitution] engaged in human trafficking.”
However, after nine months of surveillance by a group of law enforcement agencies, Florida investigators look to have a very strong case against those operating the sex-trafficking ring and the money trail leading back to China. Martin County Sheriff William Snyder has said their surveillance caught armed men driving luxury vehicles moving sex slaves between massage parlors across Florida as part of a “transnational human-trafficking ring.”
Sheriff Snyder told The Daily Beast that the Florida massage parlors were part of a $20 million China-based sex-trafficking operation, and they saw several men moving women between massage parlors. A female sex slave told his investigators that “the man who was moving her around had a gun, and indicated that he would use it,” Snyder continued, adding that the men threatened the women not to leave the spas. “We did get a sense that some of these men may have had these women as investments,” Snyder said.
Sheriff Snyder stated that the trafficking ring has connections to New York and China, and investigators have traced as much as $20 million to China. “Florida is just the end of the supply chain,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Patriots owner has denied “that Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity.” The spokesperson and an attorney for Kraft declined to comment further to The Post.
A representative for Aronberg declined to discuss Kraft’s case with The Post, except to say the investigation into the sex-trafficking and prostitution ring was ongoing.