The social media team for the New England Patriots is working pretty fast on Friday. Just after news broke that team owner Robert Kraft was charged with two counts of soliciting a prostitute at a massage parlor, the team deleted a tweet about a “happy ending.”
The tweet dated back to 2010 after the Patriots pulled out a victory against the Indianapolis Colts. “I love a story with a happy ending,” the official Patriots account wrote before sharing a game recap.
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“This one got deleted pretty fast,” political consultant Elliott Schwartz tweeted on Friday alongside a screenshot of the tweet from the Patriots. Schwartz’s tweet started to gain traction in the aftermath of the news.
This one got deleted pretty fast 😂//t.co/vZmUfy1mLc pic.twitter.com/n30QNJ7TMA
— Elliott Schwartz (@elliosch) February 22, 2019
As previously reported, Kraft, 77, was named as one of the 25 people charged in a massive human trafficking sting in southern Florida. Ten prostitution sites advertising themselves as spas and massage parlors were busted, with officials naming nearly 200 people in the months-long investigation.
Kraft will be charged with two misdemeanors by the state’s attorney’s office, as he lives outside the state of Florida, and will have to appear in court.
“Charges have been filed, but he has not been arrested,” Jupiter police spokesman Kristin Rightler told CNN Friday afternoon.
He “categorically” denied any claims that he did anything illegal, according to a statement given from a Kraft representative early Friday afternoon.
“We categorically deny that Mr. Kraft engaged in any illegal activity. Because it is a judicial matter, we will not be commenting further,” a spokesperson for Kraft said.
Police confirmed that there is video evidence from body cam video and surveillance footage of Kraft committing a sex act on at least two separate occasions from roughly “a month ago.”
The investigation, which took eight months to complete, shut down spas that ran from Palm Beach County to Orange County. Police said that the women working as prostitutes lived at the “spas.”
Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey told TCPalm.com that many of the women came from China on temporary work visas, indebted to brokers who helped them reach the U.S. — but believed legitimate jobs awaited them.
“Some of them are trying to make a better life for themselves,” Currey said. “These people truly are stuck.”
Since Kraft purchased the Patriots in 1994, the franchise has appeared in 10 Super Bowls and won six, including this year’s victory in Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams.
Photo credit: Maddie Meyer / Staff / Getty
