Palm Beach County, FLA. (WBZ NewsRadio) – Authorities in Florida say that Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, visited a massage parlor and paid for a sexual act the morning his team faced off against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship.
The Patriots won that game and eventually went on to win the Super Bowl.
Kraft is one of 25 people being charged in a months-long prostitution and human sex trafficking sting out of Jupiter, Florida.
He is facing two counts of soliciting prostitution after he was reportedly captured on video engaging in paid sexual acts.
Court records indicate that on January 20, Kraft was spotted on video in the massage parlor, where he paid cash at the front desk to an Asian female, whose name was redacted.
Kraft was then escorted into a room.
Records say after the act, that Kraft gave the woman a $100 bill plus another unidentifiable bill.Kraft was in the building for allegedly 14 minutes.
Also, police said a detective had spotted him enter and spend about 39 minutes inside the previous day.
Prosecutors say that they determined that Kraft is a resident of Palm Beach County and have issued a summons for him to appear in court.He set to appear before a Judge on April 24.
Kraft may not need to appear and could have his attorney appear instead.
WBZ NewsRadio has learned that Kraft has hired Jack Goldberger, a Florida defense attorney, to represent him against the charges.
Goldberger, represented billionaire Jeffrey Epstein against charges of trafficking underage girls for sex. The plea deal that Epstein received in that case now has now-Labor Secretary Alex Acosta in a major scandal after a judge ruled that deal broke a federal law when he was a U.S. Attorney in Miami.
The National Football League issued a statement saying that the league's Personal Conduct Policy applies to both owners and players which implies that Kraft could be punished.
“Our Personal Conduct Policy applies equally to everyone in the NFL. We will handle this allegation in the same way we would handle any issue under the Policy. We are seeking a full understanding of the facts, while ensuring that we do not interfere with an ongoing law enforcement investigation. We will take appropriate action as warranted based on the facts,” the statement read.
On Friday, Kraft denied the allegations in a brief statement by his spokesman.
“We categorically deny that Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity,” the spokesman said. “Because it is a judicial matter, we will not be commenting further.”
The NFL has punished owners in the past for their off-field issues.
In 2014, the league fined Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay $500,000 and suspended him for six games following an arrest for driving while under the influence of oxycodone and hydrocodone.
iHeartMedia’s Bill Gallucio contributed to this report.