Robert Kraft's Prostitution Charges Dropped By Prosecutors

FOXBOROUGH, MA — Florida prosecutors have dropped prostitution charges levied against New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

According to court documents filed Thursday, the case against Kraft will not proceed. The dropped charges followed prosecutors deciding not to challenge last month's ruling from the Florida 4th District Court of Appeals that blocked video evidence from being used in court.

The Florida Attorney General's Office said challenging the court's decision could have "broader, negative" implications on future investigations.

According to prosecutors, the videos showed Kraft paying for massage parlor sex acts at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa & Massage in Jupiter, Fla. The charges stemmed from, two visits to the massage parlor on the morning of and the day before the Patriots AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Kraft had pleaded not guilty to two counts of soliciting a prostitute in February 2019.

Dozens of other men were charged as a result of a six-month multi-jurisdictional investigation into an international sex trafficking operation, according to the Vero Beach Police Department in Florida.

A Florida judge in May 2019 ruled the warrant granted to police to install cameras at the spa didn't meet particular criteria and authorities didn't follow proper procedure, but the lengthy court battle persisted when prosecutors appealed the decision to the Florida 4th District Court of Appeals.

It was there the court ruled prosecutors can't use video police secretly recorded of Kraft and other men facing charges.

"The type of law enforcement surveillance utilized in these cases is extreme. While there will be situations which may warrant the use of the techniques at issue, the strict Fourth Amendment safeguards developed over the past few decades must be observed," Florida's 4th District Court of Appeal said in its August ruling. "To permit otherwise would yield unbridled discretion to agents of law enforcement and the government, the antithesis of the constitutional liberty of people to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures."