New England Patriots Owner Robert Kraft has entered a plea of not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of soliciting a prostitute.
Kraft, 77, has also requested a jury trial in the case, according to court records in Palm Beach County, Florida. Kraft’s legal team avoided an upcoming in-person court appearance by entering the plea, Yahoo Sports reported.
The plea comes on the heels of a public apology Kraft issued last weekend.
“In deference to the judicial process, I have remained silent these past several weeks,” Kraft said in his statement on Saturday. “To correct some of the misinformation surrounding this matter, my attorney made his first public comments on Friday night. I would like to use this opportunity to say something that I have wanted to say for four weeks.”
Prosecutors offered Kraft a plea deal that included the prostitution charges being dropped in exchange for his admission of guilt and a statement that he would be convicted if prosecuted as well as paying a fine.
Despite his apology, and the county’s deal, Kraft joined a group of other defendants in the prostitution case whose lawyers said that their not guilty pleas were entered because the deal offered by the county was far more strict than deals offered in similar cases.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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