It was announced Friday that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is being charged with two separate counts of soliciting another to commit prostitution at a Jupiter, Fla., massage parlor. The arrest was part of a larger sting operation conducted into human trafficking.
While Kraft issued a statement “categorically” denying that he partook in “any illegal activity,” the Patriots owner still could face punishment from the NFL.
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter noted Kraft might not be the biggest name caught up in the investigation and he spoke with WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni and Fauria” on Friday about the investigation.
“We got 25 names today, there are 175 more names coming,” Schefter said. “Some will just be regular people of names we don’t know. There could be other names we do know.”
While Kraft could face discipline under the NFL’s personal conduct policy, Schefter doesn’t see the Patriots suffering over Kraft’s legal entanglements.
“Robert Kraft has been one of the most respected members, not just in football but in all sports,” Schefter said. “He’s done so much good and helped so many people for so long. This is a situation that involves him. So, if you want to go out and discipline the team for that, I heard you talking about picks, right? To me, I don’t see that happening, it’s not an issue like that. Now again, we’ll see what the league decides to do and how the league decides to handle it. But the league, I would think, would investigate this, come to its own conclusions, and if the league finds that there’s been any wrongdoings or, that even the mere suggestion of this embarrasses all the league, is in violation of the personal conduct policy, well then at that point in time I would think there would be a fine levied, I would think that there would be a potential suspension levied depending on what the league finds. But, to me, it doesn’t go beyond that because that’s what we are talking about. Penalizing the individual.”
Schefter added he doesn’t believe the league would dock the Patriots draft picks for Kraft’s conduct. The warrant for Kraft’s arrest is expected to be delivered Monday. He faces two misdemeanor charges that carry a maximum sentence of 60 days in jail.
Kraft bought the Patriots in 1994.
