New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft visited a Florida massage parlor for sex acts the night before and the morning of last month's AFC Championship Game, which he attended in Kansas City, authorities said Monday in documents charging him with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution.
The 77-year-old Kraft was chauffeured to the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in a 2014 white Bentley on the evening of Jan. 19, where police say they videotaped him engaging in a sex act and then handing over an undetermined amount of cash, Jupiter, Fla., police said in charging documents released by the Palm Beach State Attorney's Office.
Investigators said Kraft was back at the spa 17 hours later, arriving at the upper-middle class shopping center where the spa was located in a chauffeured 2015 blue Bentley, the documents said. He was videotaped engaging in sex acts before paying with a $100 bill and another bill, police said.
State Attorney Dave Aronberg said Kraft will be issued a summons that is similar to a traffic ticket and assigned a day to appear in court. Most people charged for the first time with soliciting are eligible for a diversion program where they pay a small fine, perform 100 hours of community service and attend a class where they learn about the dangers of prostitution and how it is often tied to human trafficking.
Kraft, whose team won the Super Bowl earlier this month in Atlanta, denied wrongdoing Friday, shortly after Jupiter police announced he was being charged. The NFL said i that its personal conduct policy "applies equally to everyone in the NFL" and it will handle "this allegation in the same way we would handle any issue under the policy."
Kraft's wife, Myra Hiatt Kraft, died in 2011. He has been dating 39-year-old actress Ricki Noel Lander since 2012.
Panthers release Munnerlyn
The Panthers released former Vikings nickel cornerback Captain Munnerlyn. Munnerlyn, 30, played in 107 games during two separate stints with the Panthers over seven seasons and had eight career interceptions with a franchise-best five returns for touchdowns.
