Edward Markey has decided Robert Kraft’s money should help someone else.
The U.S. Senator from Massachusetts announced Tuesday he’ll give funds the New England Patriots owner donated to him most recently to an organization that fights human trafficking. Kraft donated $3,600 to Markey’s senate campaign in 2013, but the veteran lawmaker apparently now is trying to distance himself from the billionaire, who faces misdemeanor solicitation charges.
“Sexual exploitation in all of its forms is reprehensible,” Markey said in a statement to The Boston Globe. “These allegations are very alarming, and I have confidence that the authorities will be investigating this matter fully to get to the truth.”
Kraft supported Markey when he was a member in the the U.S. House of Representatives, giving him a combined $4,000 in campaign donations between 2001 and 2004.
Kraft faces two charges of soliciting prostitution after police surveillance cameras allegedly caught him paying for sex acts inside the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Fla., on two occasions in late January. He pleaded not guilty to both charges, and his arraignment is scheduled for March 28.
Prosecutors reportedly offered to dismiss the charges against Kraft — and 24 other men ensnared in a widespread prostitution sting that targeted multiple Florida massage parlors — but only if he acknowledges he would have been found guilty had the case gone to trial.
