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Kraft waives arraignment, requests jury trial on prostitution charges

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — New England Patriots Owner Robert Kraft has pleaded not guilty to charges of soliciting prostitution and waived his arraignment, according to court documents.

Kraft has requested a jury trial on charges he twice paid for sex acts at a Florida day spa near his home in Palm Beach.

The request was made in a document e-filed Tuesday by his attorneys.

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The 77-year-old Kraft was among more than 100 people linked last month to several central Florida day spas and massage parlors suspected of being used for prostitution and targeted by law enforcement during a monthslong investigation.

Police said Kraft twice visited the Orchids of Asia Day Spa. Video footage allegedly showed him receiving "paid acts" in a room at the spa and surveillance video shows him being driven to the spa, police Chief Daniel Kerr said last month.

The charges are second-degree misdemeanors and generally carry no more than a 60-day sentence in county jail, according to Edmondson.

Kraft was to be arraigned on March 28, but that hearing has been cancelled.

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