April 18, 2024 • 34 mins
In this episode, we explore a scandal that intertwines the high-stakes world of NFL ownership with a shadowy day spa in Florida. Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, finds himself at the center of a storm involving allegations of soliciting prostitution. The investigation reveals a complex web of human trafficking and moral dilemmas, challenging our perceptions of power, privilege, and justice. How does a figure of Kraft's stature navigate the murky waters of such a public scandal? Tune in to find out more about the implications for Kraft, the NFL, and the victims caught in the crossfire.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome back to Playing Dirty Sports Scandals with me. Jay Harris,
You're a man with the plan when it comes to
unraveling the most salacious sports scandals in history. Over the
past twenty years of my career as a journalist in Sportscaster,
I've hosted a variety of ESPN shows from SportsCenter to
Outside the Lines, but on Playing Dirty, I crossed the line,
(00:28):
taking you behind the scenes of your favorite sports to
quench your thirst for scandal. Today's tale is anything but cleansing,
because we're pouring the plot of Robert Craft and the
(00:50):
Day spa scandal. Let's start with Robert Kraft for those
of you who aren't already familiar with his legacy. Robert
Kraft was born in nineteen forty one, the same year
the United States joined in World War Two. After the
attack on Pearl Harbor. He lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, with
his parents, Sarah and Harry Craft. The Craft family weren't
(01:11):
rich in material goods, but they drew moral strength even
in the face of wartime trials from religion. In fact,
Robert's father, Harry wanted his son to become a rabbi.
All through high school, Robert couldn't participate in most sports
because they interfered with his after school Hebrew studies and
observance of the Sabbath. Fast forward to the early nineteen
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sixties and Robert Craft was attending Columbia University in New
York City on an academic scholarship. Finally able to get
into athletics, he played tennis and football and decided that
material goods were pretty compelling after all. Rather than fulfill
his father's dream for him and take the Rabbi route,
Robert Craft went all the way in on capitalism by
(01:52):
pursuing and receiving an NBA from Harvard Business School in
nineteen sixty five. But as fate would have it wasn't
Craft's prestigious MBA degree from Harvard that set his career
a light. Rather, it was a chance encounter at a
delicatessen down the street from his Boston dorm that proved transformative.
He bumped into a girl named Myra Hyatt, whose father,
(02:14):
Jacob Hyatt, managed the multi billion dollar packaging corporation Rand Whitney,
and the rest is history. Robert Kraft married Myra Hyatt, and,
thanks to his father in law's support, with a warm handshake,
welcoming into the Rand Whitney business, he became a billgadaire.
Robert gained control of the company in nineteen sixty eight
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and to this day still serves as its chairman. As
of January twenty twenty four, as net worth is listed
as eleven point one five billion dollars. Robert Kraft had
developed a taste for team sports while at Harvard, and
now that he was sitting strong financially, he decided to indulge.
(02:57):
On January twenty first, nineteen ninety four, Robert Kraft became
the proud owner of the New England Patriots. He said
he had to break every one of his financial rules
in pursuit of the Patriots, and claims that he still
believes he overpaid for the franchise, but nonetheless, the team
has been successful under Craft's ownership. His one hundred seventy
two million dollar investment, which at the time was the
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highest price ever paid for a professional football franchise, has
been worth it since. The Patriots are now valued at
about six billion dollars and have won six Super Bowl rings. Okay,
so now that we've tackled the billionaire backstory, it is
time to fast forward to twenty eighteen. In Jupiter, Florida,
were two definite non billionaires, Ley Lulu Wong and Hua
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Mandy Jong became co owners of the orchards in Asia Daseba.
Lulu and Mandy had even more humble beginnings in life
than Robert Kraft. Lulu lived past the South Dixie Highway,
beyond the advertisements for pawn shops and billboards with the
phone numbers of personal injury lawyers. This part of Florida
is a world away from where the Orchids of Asia
(04:06):
Daseball operated in Jupiter, a suburban oasis which locals call
a town of old and quiet money. Meanwhile, Lulu's partner, Mandy,
was an esthetician originally from Guangzhou, China, who immigrated to
the USA in two thousand and six. Growing up in
Guangzhou wasn't a walk in the park for Mandy, but
she made a decent living as an esthetician there and
(04:29):
told Vanity Fair that she really only immigrated to the
US for her son. She wanted him to have every opportunity,
and so she uprooted herself and worked as a massuse
until she'd raised enough money to buy into the Orchids
of Asia Daseball. Partnership with Lulu in twenty thirteen. They
were set up and ready to make some life changing
money together. You know the key players in this game. Now,
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we've got somewhat self made billionaire and New England Patriots
owner Robert Kraft, and we've got Lulu and Mandy who
scraped together the cash to partner up on Orchids of
Asia baseball in Jupiter, Florida. What could these three have
to do with one another To crack the answer to
that question, another player was faded to enter the scene.
(05:14):
Karen Hertzog. Karen Herzog is a Florida massage parlor inspector
who had anything but a routine day on July sixth,
twenty eighteen, when she visited Orchids of Asia. When she
entered the premises, which from the exterior appeared like a
completely nondescript strip mall facade, nestled in between a nail
salon and ironically in a scape room business, Karen's spidey
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sense immediately started to tingle. She noticed that the spa
worker who welcomed her into Orchards of Asia, a young
Asian woman, was dressed provocatively, spoke little English and appeared nervous.
Karen also noted in her report that suitcases, clothes, a
fridge full of food, and condoms were visible on the premises.
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From her training, Karen knew that the thing she was
noticing during her standard inspection could be signs of human trafficking,
so she contacted the Martin County Sheriff's office promptly and
reported her findings. Acting on this initial tip from Karen,
Herzog detectives Mike Fenton and Anthony Sharp, who would become
the lead investigators in the case, dove into the digital
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world and sure enough found Orchids of Asia listed in
some explicit rub and tug reviews, and yes, if you're wondering,
that is indeed slang for a massage parlor that offers
sexual services. Several of the reviews made crystal clear that
patrons have been offered more than a massage on its premises.
For example, on February twenty second, twenty fifteen, one Yelp
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reviewer wrote that she was highly disappointed I allowed you
to give my friend and I a facial and massage.
I recommended Orchards of Asia as well to a guy
friend of mine who was offered a table shower, then
happy ending. Convinced by their Internet sleuthing that there was
a further case at Orchids of Asia worth pursuing, detectives,
Fenton and Sharp set up boots on the ground with
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round the clock surveillance of the business for seven days straight,
recording the comings and goings of its almost exclusively male clientele.
The gender of Orchids of Asia's clients was in and
of itself unusual, since, according to the American Massage Therapy Association,
more women than men receive massage therapy, so to have
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a steady stream of men at their door Orchids of
Asia was bucking national stats. Every day of their stakeout,
detectives Fenton and Sharp saw between seven and twenty men
visiting the spa, each staying on the premises for roughly
thirty to sixty minutes. Orchids of Asia, like many massage
parlors across the US, was staffed predominantly by women of
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Asian descent. The business offered massages for fifty nine dollars
for a half hour and seventy nine dollars for an hour.
While not totally out of sync with the market, these
were inexpensive rates even back in twenty eighteen. As they
kept their eye on the exterior of the business, the
boxes were being checked for the detectives one by one,
low pricing staffed mostly by Asian women, majority male clientele,
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and then detectives Fenton and Sharp witnessed client behavior that
tipped their suspicions of a dirty business from possible to
highly probable. A group of men in a golf cart
arrived at Orchards of Asia. Their lewed touchdown gestures as
they went into the premises a chilling hint of what
was inside. At that point I understood this was not
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just a regular massage parlor, but one that was an
illicit massage business. Detective Anthony Sharp later testified and was
Sharp said illicit massage business. Let's be clear, what he
really meant was house of prostitution. According to findings of
human trafficking expert and author of Hidden in Plain Sight
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Kimberly Melman Orosco, and as reported by Forbes, there is
a four and a half billion dollar erotic massage parlor
economy booming in the United States. And this is shocking
because everywhere in the United States except for Nevada, prostitution
is illegal. Less, Surprisingly, human trafficking is illegal everywhere in
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the United States since it clearly violates human rights on
every level. So what exactly is human trafficking? How do
we define it as a society. Well, according to the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, human trafficking is classified as one
of two things. It can refer to sex trafficking in
which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud,
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or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform
such act has not attained eighteen years of age. Or
it can refer to the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or
obtaining of a person for labor or services through the
use force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection
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to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt, bondage, or slavery. Human trafficking
is an abhorrent practice, and yet despite most people's appalled
response to the practice of human trafficking. According to the
Polaris Project, an organization whose experts analyzed data from the
US National Human Trafficking Hotline, reports of human trafficking have
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increased every year since twenty fifteen, and in twenty eighteen,
when orchards of Asia was flagged by Karen Hertzog and
then promptly investigated by detectives Mike Fenton and Anthony Sharp. Well,
let's just say trafficking reports were surging. Between twenty eighteen
and twenty nineteen, reports of human trafficking increased by a
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wapping nineteen percent in the United States. Detectives Fenton and
Sharp were confident that Orchids of Asia was an erotic
massage parlor based on their exterior stakeout, but they knew
they would need to provide additional evidence to bust the business.
After all, it's not always easy to prove misbehavior by
these massage parlors since they do, in fact tend to
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offer legitimate services as well. You can walk in and
order up your standard Swedish deep tissue or hot stone
massage at these stripmall joints, but if you're looking for
something a little more more than a range of illegal
sex acts can be made available for an extra fee
if you seem like you might be in the market
for a happy ending. And sadly, according to the Polaris
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Project in the Department of Justice, oftentimes the women employed
in these shadier massage parlors providing happy endings to those
who are either unwitting or downright predatory or victims of
human trafficking, which means they've been coerced or threatened into
their life of sexual servitude. In fact, the US State
Department has classified this scenario as modern day slavery because
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these women are sometimes after without realizing what was happening
to them until it was too late. We stopped thinking
about just cages, bars and chains as means of coercion,
said John Richmond, the State Department's top anti trafficking official.
These criminals are using nonviolent forms of coercion. The victims
of human trafficking will have their identity documents taken and
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they feel they have no way out. Often these women,
generally young women or even girls, don't speak English and
don't trust authorities, so they are unable or unwilling to
ask for help. But detectives Fenton and Sharp knew that
they had to try to help the girls and women
working in orchards of Asia, and that they needed more
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than exterior surveillance to gain vital evidence. So on November fourteenth,
twenty eighteen, they went back to Inspector Karen Herzog and
asked her to survey the business more deeply. Now, this
wasn't a small ask because most erotic massage parlors have
connections to organized crime, and it can be extremely dangerous
for inspectors who pushed too hard. In fact, Karen Herzog
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disguised herself as a customer in order to view Orchards
of Asia thoroughly from the inside, and what she found
was alarming. Beds were in the massage rooms, personal items
were in dressers, and the kitchen was stocked with food.
The women on site also seemed to be anxious and
on high alert throughout her visit. Karen later testified that
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the SPA workers appeared agitated and failed to make eye contact.
I began to feel more and more uneasy, Karen recalled.
All the signs pointed to the fact that the women
were likely living full time at the SPA. Karen Herzog's
first report, followed by her second undercover report, compelled Detective
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Sharp to search the SPA's trash, and it was the
dumpster dive that finally provided the smoking gun. Detectives found
napkins covered in seamen and a ripped up ledger that
they pieced back together, detailing Orchards Asia's client payments. The
police reasoned why would a legitimate business tear up business records,
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and the logical answer was that an above board operation wouldn't,
but an illegitimate business very well might. Armed with sufficient
evidence that Orchards of Asia was affront for an illegal
house of prostitution, the Jupiter police began building their legal case.
They followed men after they left the spa and pulled
them over under the guise of minor traffic infections so
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they could ask for ID and question them about where
they were coming from. And surprisingly, when questioned directly about
their activities at Orchids of Asia, the men often spilled
the beans describing the sexual services they received from the
women there. The men's willingness to talk, while helpful, illustrates
one of the big problems with the illicit massage parlor industry.
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The men who received sexual services don't see the big picture,
and so they don't understand the gravity of their patronage.
They believe their happy endings are harmless fun rather than
a cog in the wheel of human trafficking. This dangerous
mainstream attitude towards happy ending massages is perpetuated by mainstream media,
and even popular E card companies like some e cards
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Just consider some E card's viral tongue in cheek notes
with quips like the only place happy endings occur are
in fairy tales and seedy massage parlors. Many men would
get this ping to them by a work colleague chuckle,
and never consider the darker implications. This insidious ignorance is
a real problem for society and of course devastating for
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the women being trafficked for the officers working on the
orchids of Asia busts. Though, being armed with the admissions
of some male clients from their traffic stops, combined with
Karen Herzog's observations in the spa and the trash from
the dumpster dive, made it possible for detectives Fenton and
Sharp to convince a local judge, Circuit Judge Howard Coates
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to sign a sneak and Peaks warrant. A sneak in
peak search warrant is a special type of search warrant
that allows law enforcement officers to enter a property without
the occupant's knowledge and without immediately notifying them of the search.
It gives authorities the benefit of surprise. Under normal circumstances,
when a search warrant is executed, law enforcement is required
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to provide notice to the property owner or occupant, typically
by knocking, announcing their presence and purpose, and then conducting
the search while the occupant is present. They are also
required to leave a copy of the signed search warrant
with the owner or occupant so they can see what
law enforcement was looking for and what they took under
the warrant. A sneak and peak warrant deviates from this
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standard procedure to prevent the occupant from covering up evidence.
It permits authorities to delay notifying the occupant about the
warrant for a reasonable period of time to protect an
ongoing investigation. While initially intended for use in counter terrorism efforts,
sneak and peak warrants have also been employed in a
broader range of criminal investigations. The use of such warrants
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in cases not directly related to terrorism has been a
point of contention and debate in the US regarding privacy
rights and the scope of law enforcement powers. But regardless
of your position on sneak and peak warrants. In January
twenty nineteen, when the police executed their plan at Orchids
of Asia, SPA and Jupiter, Florida. There's no doubt that
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it gave authorities an edge in confirming human trafficking. In
one fell swoop, the police evacuated the SPA citing a
fictitious bomb threat and used this cover story as an
opportunity to install hidden cameras on the premises. They had
one camera directed at the spa entrance to capture customers' faces,
and hid additional cameras in four massage rooms. What they
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captured over the next five days on those cameras was
shocking and fully validated all their worst fears. Watching over
a live feed, detectives witnessed more than twenty men as
they received sex victual services from women working at Orchards
of Asia, ranging from manual to oral sex. When the
Johns left the SPA, an officer would always follow them
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and initiated traffic stop as a pretext for clearly identifying
the men. And guess what among the men stopped was
famed owner of the New England Patriots, seventy eight year
old Robert kraft I. Told you there would be a
link between the players in this dirty scandal, as Robert
Kraft left the SPA and his wife Bentley, Officer Scott
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Kimbark stopped his car on the pretense of a minor
traffic violation. At this point, Robert Kraft asked the officer
if he was a Miami Dolphins fan and showed him
his Super Bowl ring, explaining that he was the owner
of the New England Patriots. After a bit of chit chat,
officer Kimbark, having accomplished his mission, let Kraft go with
a warning. Then he returned to his colleagues to review
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what Craft had actually done at Orchards of Asia. Had
Craft been there for above board therapeutic massage services or
had he'd partaken in an illegal happy ending. Shockingly, Bogionaire
Robert Kraft had paid for and received sexual services from
SPA co owner Lulu and another worker, Shing Ming b.
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He paid in cash and then, oblivious to the gravity
of the situation, later boasted to a friend about his
unexpected experience at Orchards of Asia SPA. According to an
article by Vanity Fair reporter Meijong, Kraft bragged to his friend,
you won't believe what happened to me. Then Kraft allegedly
shared how he'd gone for what he thought was a
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regular massage, but that the masseuse had given him a
hand job instead. The friend angrily criticized Kraft forgetting a
rub and tug, and then Kraft, seemingly hurt, insisted that
it wasn't like that. He told his friend that he
felt a real connection with Lulu and Shingming b Was
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it possible that Kraft was telling the truth? After all,
he had lost his wife my Hyatt to ovarian cancer
in twenty eleven and had broken up with actress Ricky
nol Land after a six year relationship right before his
twenty eighteen activity at Orchards of Asia. In his mind,
was he actually developing a relationship with his messuses. Whether
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he did or he didn't, believe this to be the case,
what we do know is that later the same evening
of his visit, Robert Kraft received a call from Orchards
of Asia asking him to book in for another session.
According to Kraft's friend, he was thrilled and seemed to
lack all recognition that the SPA was merely soliciting repeat business,
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and so the next day, unaware that he was now
a target of a major police investigation, Kraft returned to
Orchards of Asia, this time with the driver in a
twenty fifteen Blue Bentley. He arrived before eleven am, almost
laughably qualifying for the advertised early bird special of fifteen
dollars off. This time, Kraft allegedly received a hand job
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and a blowjob from Lulu and left after just fourteen minutes.
Then he flew to Kansas City to watch his team
play the Chiefs in the NFL playoffs. The New England
Patriots won. What a day. There's a terrible quote with
a tinge of truth, once uttered by Mexican social reform
activist Ricardo Flores Magone. Workers are like lemons. When the
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rich have sucked out all the juice, they throw them
in the garbage. And that's where this story might have
ended if the authorities in Florida hadn't worked diligently to
ensure that the truth came to light. On February nineteenth,
twenty nineteen, the Orchids of Asia scandal catapulted onto the
national stage. Sheriff William Schneider of South Florida held a
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groundbreaking press conference. He announced that his local officers, in
collaboration with immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security had
uncovered a staggering twenty million dollars sex trafficking ring at
multiple day spaws, its tentacles stretching from New York and
China all the way to Florida, ensnaring countless women in
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a web of deceit and coercion and sex. Sheriff Snyder
painted a harrowing picture. Many women lured under false pretenses
to the United States found themselves trapped in a nightmare,
forced to work in massage parlors, engaging in sex work
with up to one thousand men each year, their passports
and earning seized. These women were the true victims of
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a sprawling, merciless criminal network. I don't believe they were
told they were going to work in massage parlors seven
days a week, having unprotected sex with up to one
thousand men a year. Sheriff Snyder insisted, and he was right.
In an expose by The New York Times, one human
trafficking victim's heartbreaking story was shared reporters Nicholas Coolish, Francis Roeblis,
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and Patricia Mazzey wrote. She was forty nine, a recent
immigrant and deeply in debt to a loan shark back
home in China. When she answered an employment ad three
years ago that promised thousands of dollars a month but
offered no job description, she realized too late that she
had been tricked into working at a massage parlor in Flushing, Queens, where,
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besides kneading backs, she was expected to sexually service up
to a dozen men a day. Some of the clients
were violent, and the boss charged ten dollars a day
for her to sleep on a sofa in a room
at the parlor, where rats nibbled on her food. She said,
the customers were very terrible. After you perform a service,
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they would find an excuse to take the money away.
They would, she said, do even worse things. These women suffered,
and many continued to suffer terribly under the methodical, almost
clinical human trafficking operations in massage parlors across the United States.
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Women working at the orchids of Asia Spas specifically, were
shuffled every ten to twenty days between this and other spas,
sleeping on massage tables, living in the shadows of society.
Sheriff Snyder announced that up to three hundred men, many
of whom were married or in relationships would face charges
for soliciting prostitution at orchards of Asia. The scandal was
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no longer just about a small day spa in Jupiter.
It was about human lives being shattered by modern day
slavery across our nation. The investigation had unveiled a sophisticated
organization behind the sexual servitude of young women from Asia. Tragically,
police confirmed the women had been warned not to trust
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law enforcement and rarely admitted to illegal transactions, even though
they too were caught on the sneak and peak warrant
videos from the orchards of Asia sting. Just three days
after Sheriff Snyder's pres announcement, Robert Kraft's anonymity and reputation
came tumbling down as Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave
Ehrenberg charged him with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution.
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Human trafficking is evil in our midst Dave Arenberg told
reporters on February twenty second, twenty nineteen, modern day slavery
can happen anywhere, including in the peaceful community of Jupiter, Florida.
With his words, the press ran with another truth that
offenses can be perpetrated anywhere by anyone, including a legendary
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businessman and sports team owner. Shock Waves tore through the
sports world as every industry headline bore news of the scandal.
Robert Kraft, a man synonymous with NFL's success, a multi
billionaire and a respected philanthropist, was now facing misdemeanor solicitation
of prostitution charges. He promptly pled not guilty, but that
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didn't stop tongues from wagging. The NFL released a statement
saying they were monitoring the situation and noted that owners
were subject to the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy. What did
that actually mean? Well, the conduct policy is what gives
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell the power to find or suspend
players who engage in on or off field misconduct or
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illegal behavior. So with the NFL's statement, it was made
clear that the conduct policy would be applied to team
owners who played dirty two. So what was to happen
now that the scandal was unraveling faster than a rat
up a dream pipe. Well, but police were not able
to identify all the women and considered to be victims
in the trafficking ring. What they did do, however, was
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promptly arrest Mandy, one of the owners of Orchards of Asia, Spa.
Mandy sat down with Vanity Fair to recall the morning
of her arrest on February nineteenth, twenty nineteen. She was
making herself a cup of coffee when the police came
by to charge her, like an old fashioned madam, with
maintaining a house of prostitution. Somewhat amusedly, Mandy remembers that
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at the time, I thought they must have made a mistake.
It's so funny they treat me as a treacherous criminal.
I can't believe what kind of system it is. Why
do you make such a big move against a family woman.
But while Mandy was indeed a mother, that certainly didn't
make her less culpable. Additional charges against her came quickly,
including soliciting others to engage in prostitution. She faced years
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in prison, but as the US Department of Justice prosecutors
if long known, the real legal threat to Mandy was
minimal from the outset. That's because these cases are incredibly
difficult to prosecute. More often than not, the young women
who have been trafficked are reluctant or even completely unwilling
to cooperate with law enforcement, and without victims, there isn't
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a compelling case to put before a jury. It's a
massive problem when victims don't speak English, don't trust law
enforcement because of historic issues in their own countries, and
rarely cooperate in prosecuting the pimps and madams exploiting them.
What ends up happening are investigations that make arrests, but
which result in little or no punishment of anyone. So
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that's how this scandal shook out a totally distasteful outcome.
In November twenty twenty four women from orchards of Asia
took plea deals. Court records showed that Mandy pleaded guilty
to two misdemeanors out of the twenty nine charges brought
against her. A judge ordered her to serve one year
of probation, pay a five thousand dollar fine, and serve
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one hundred hours of community service. Lu lu Wang, Mandy's
partner at the SPA, pled guilty to a misdemeanor count
of soliciting another to commit prostitution. Her plea marked the
end of an extensive legal battle involving herself and three
other defendants, Mandy, shen Ming b and Lei Chen, all
of whom had previously accepted plea deals. Judge Joseph Marx
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of the fifteenth Judicial Circuit remarked during Lu lu Wang's hearing,
I believe that resolves all of the cases in this situation.
Like Mandy, Lulu sentence included one year of probation, of
five thousand dollar fine, and one hundred hours of community service.
The other charges against Lu, including a serious felony charge
of deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution, were dropped,
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so basically having profited from others suffering, Mandy and Lulu
walked away with a tisc tisk punishment and warning not
to play dirty again. Shocking and in an equally shocking
turn of events, Florida prosecutors dropped all charges of soliciting
prostitution against Robert Kraft. This decision came after a key
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court ruling that effectively dismantled the foundation of the prosecution's case.
The court ruled that Jupiter police had violated the rules,
as had Circuit Judge Howard Coates, who signed the warrant
when they planted secret video cameras at orchids of Asia SPA.
You see, the constitution protects us all from what are
called unreasonable searches. Now you may ask what is unreasonable, Well,
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the courts decide that and often after the fact, and
the subjective nature of what constitutes an unreasonable sens search
can understandably be confusing for law enforcement. In Florida, it
turns out that there isn't any particular authorization for those
sneak and peak warrants. The state doesn't prohibit law enforcement
(30:12):
from using them, but it doesn't explicitly allow their use either.
So the bottom line was that detectives Mike Fenton and
Anthony Sharp took a big chance asking for sneak and
peak warrants to use in their investigation, and when it
came time to try their case in court, that gamble
did not pay off. The court declared that there are
five main rules that should be followed in the provision
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of sneak and peak warrants, and that one of those
rules is a plan to ensure innocent people doing legal
things aren't caught up in the surveillance. On this rule,
the court found at least one female client receiving perfectly
legal massage services. Therefore, her privacy had been invaded by
the sneak and peak warrant usage, and the court determined
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the entire scheme had to be tossed. The video evidence
dents of Robert Kraft allegedly engaging in illicit activity would
not be admitted into this or any other court case. Ever,
the case against Robert Kraft and at least twenty four
other men arrested in the sprawling investigation collapsed overnight as
all charges were dropped. Palm Beach State Attorney David Ehrenberg,
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in a news conference, expressed his frustration at the court's ruling.
The Orchids of Asia Dayspa, he said, was a notorious
brothel and a family shopping center, but the economic inequalities
in the justice system, Arenberg lamented, allowed wealthy defendants like
Robert Kraft to hire top class legal teams that found
the loopholes and pushing on the legality of the sneak
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and peak warrant usage had been a successful loophole. While
Robert Kraft walked away without legal repercussions, his public persona
had certainly taken a hit, and he did express public
remorse for his actions, stating I am truly sorry. I
know I have hurt and disappointed my family, my close friends,
my co workers, our fans, and many others who rightfully
(32:05):
hold me to a higher standard. Throughout my life, I
have always tried to do the right thing. The last
thing I would ever want to do is disrespect another
human being. I have extraordinary respect for women. My morals
and my soul were shaped by the most wonderful woman,
the love of my life, who I was blessed to
have as my partner for fifty years. As I move forward,
(32:28):
I hope to continue to use the platform with which
I have been blessed to help others and to try
to make a difference. I expect to be judged not
by my words, but by my actions, and through those actions,
I hope to regain your confidence and respect. I hope
all the dirty players in this scandal, from Robert Kraft
to Lulu Wong and Mandy Jong, walked away more empathetic
(32:52):
and a whole lot wiser. It's important to remember that
the scandals I share on this podcast run deeper than
sensational story. After all, these are people's messy lives, human beings,
often grappling with tremendous injustice and stacked societal imbalances. These
are important conversations we're having. Stay thirsty and join me
(33:13):
for next week's episode of Playing Dirty Sports Scandals to
continue our salacious sampling as we challenge perceptions of crime, punishment,
and privilege together. Playing Dirty Sports Scandals is a production
(33:36):
of Dan Patrick Productions, Never Ever Productions, and Workhouse Media
from executive producers Dan Patrick, Paul Anderson, Nick Panela, Maya Glickman,
and Jennifer Clary. Hosted by Jay Harris, Written and produced
by Jen Brown, Franci Haiks, Maya Glickman, and Jennifer Clary,
Welcome back to Playing Dirty Sports Scandals with me. Jay Harris,
You're a man with the plan when it comes to
unraveling the most salacious sports scandals in history. Over the
past twenty years of my career as a journalist in Sportscaster,
I've hosted a variety of ESPN shows from SportsCenter to
Outside the Lines, but on Playing Dirty, I crossed the line,
(00:28):
taking you behind the scenes of your favorite sports to
quench your thirst for scandal. Today's tale is anything but cleansing,
because we're pouring the plot of Robert Craft and the
(00:50):
Day spa scandal. Let's start with Robert Kraft for those
of you who aren't already familiar with his legacy. Robert
Kraft was born in nineteen forty one, the same year
the United States joined in World War Two. After the
attack on Pearl Harbor. He lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, with
his parents, Sarah and Harry Craft. The Craft family weren't
(01:11):
rich in material goods, but they drew moral strength even
in the face of wartime trials from religion. In fact,
Robert's father, Harry wanted his son to become a rabbi.
All through high school, Robert couldn't participate in most sports
because they interfered with his after school Hebrew studies and
observance of the Sabbath. Fast forward to the early nineteen
(01:31):
sixties and Robert Craft was attending Columbia University in New
York City on an academic scholarship. Finally able to get
into athletics, he played tennis and football and decided that
material goods were pretty compelling after all. Rather than fulfill
his father's dream for him and take the Rabbi route,
Robert Craft went all the way in on capitalism by
(01:52):
pursuing and receiving an NBA from Harvard Business School in
nineteen sixty five. But as fate would have it wasn't
Craft's prestigious MBA degree from Harvard that set his career
a light. Rather, it was a chance encounter at a
delicatessen down the street from his Boston dorm that proved transformative.
He bumped into a girl named Myra Hyatt, whose father,
(02:14):
Jacob Hyatt, managed the multi billion dollar packaging corporation Rand Whitney,
and the rest is history. Robert Kraft married Myra Hyatt, and,
thanks to his father in law's support, with a warm handshake,
welcoming into the Rand Whitney business, he became a billgadaire.
Robert gained control of the company in nineteen sixty eight
(02:34):
and to this day still serves as its chairman. As
of January twenty twenty four, as net worth is listed
as eleven point one five billion dollars. Robert Kraft had
developed a taste for team sports while at Harvard, and
now that he was sitting strong financially, he decided to indulge.
(02:57):
On January twenty first, nineteen ninety four, Robert Kraft became
the proud owner of the New England Patriots. He said
he had to break every one of his financial rules
in pursuit of the Patriots, and claims that he still
believes he overpaid for the franchise, but nonetheless, the team
has been successful under Craft's ownership. His one hundred seventy
two million dollar investment, which at the time was the
(03:19):
highest price ever paid for a professional football franchise, has
been worth it since. The Patriots are now valued at
about six billion dollars and have won six Super Bowl rings. Okay,
so now that we've tackled the billionaire backstory, it is
time to fast forward to twenty eighteen. In Jupiter, Florida,
were two definite non billionaires, Ley Lulu Wong and Hua
(03:44):
Mandy Jong became co owners of the orchards in Asia Daseba.
Lulu and Mandy had even more humble beginnings in life
than Robert Kraft. Lulu lived past the South Dixie Highway,
beyond the advertisements for pawn shops and billboards with the
phone numbers of personal injury lawyers. This part of Florida
is a world away from where the Orchids of Asia
(04:06):
Daseball operated in Jupiter, a suburban oasis which locals call
a town of old and quiet money. Meanwhile, Lulu's partner, Mandy,
was an esthetician originally from Guangzhou, China, who immigrated to
the USA in two thousand and six. Growing up in
Guangzhou wasn't a walk in the park for Mandy, but
she made a decent living as an esthetician there and
(04:29):
told Vanity Fair that she really only immigrated to the
US for her son. She wanted him to have every opportunity,
and so she uprooted herself and worked as a massuse
until she'd raised enough money to buy into the Orchids
of Asia Daseball. Partnership with Lulu in twenty thirteen. They
were set up and ready to make some life changing
money together. You know the key players in this game. Now,
(04:54):
we've got somewhat self made billionaire and New England Patriots
owner Robert Kraft, and we've got Lulu and Mandy who
scraped together the cash to partner up on Orchids of
Asia baseball in Jupiter, Florida. What could these three have
to do with one another To crack the answer to
that question, another player was faded to enter the scene.
(05:14):
Karen Hertzog. Karen Herzog is a Florida massage parlor inspector
who had anything but a routine day on July sixth,
twenty eighteen, when she visited Orchids of Asia. When she
entered the premises, which from the exterior appeared like a
completely nondescript strip mall facade, nestled in between a nail
salon and ironically in a scape room business, Karen's spidey
(05:39):
sense immediately started to tingle. She noticed that the spa
worker who welcomed her into Orchards of Asia, a young
Asian woman, was dressed provocatively, spoke little English and appeared nervous.
Karen also noted in her report that suitcases, clothes, a
fridge full of food, and condoms were visible on the premises.
(06:00):
From her training, Karen knew that the thing she was
noticing during her standard inspection could be signs of human trafficking,
so she contacted the Martin County Sheriff's office promptly and
reported her findings. Acting on this initial tip from Karen,
Herzog detectives Mike Fenton and Anthony Sharp, who would become
the lead investigators in the case, dove into the digital
(06:21):
world and sure enough found Orchids of Asia listed in
some explicit rub and tug reviews, and yes, if you're wondering,
that is indeed slang for a massage parlor that offers
sexual services. Several of the reviews made crystal clear that
patrons have been offered more than a massage on its premises.
For example, on February twenty second, twenty fifteen, one Yelp
(06:44):
reviewer wrote that she was highly disappointed I allowed you
to give my friend and I a facial and massage.
I recommended Orchards of Asia as well to a guy
friend of mine who was offered a table shower, then
happy ending. Convinced by their Internet sleuthing that there was
a further case at Orchids of Asia worth pursuing, detectives,
Fenton and Sharp set up boots on the ground with
(07:06):
round the clock surveillance of the business for seven days straight,
recording the comings and goings of its almost exclusively male clientele.
The gender of Orchids of Asia's clients was in and
of itself unusual, since, according to the American Massage Therapy Association,
more women than men receive massage therapy, so to have
(07:28):
a steady stream of men at their door Orchids of
Asia was bucking national stats. Every day of their stakeout,
detectives Fenton and Sharp saw between seven and twenty men
visiting the spa, each staying on the premises for roughly
thirty to sixty minutes. Orchids of Asia, like many massage
parlors across the US, was staffed predominantly by women of
(07:50):
Asian descent. The business offered massages for fifty nine dollars
for a half hour and seventy nine dollars for an hour.
While not totally out of sync with the market, these
were inexpensive rates even back in twenty eighteen. As they
kept their eye on the exterior of the business, the
boxes were being checked for the detectives one by one,
low pricing staffed mostly by Asian women, majority male clientele,
(08:16):
and then detectives Fenton and Sharp witnessed client behavior that
tipped their suspicions of a dirty business from possible to
highly probable. A group of men in a golf cart
arrived at Orchards of Asia. Their lewed touchdown gestures as
they went into the premises a chilling hint of what
was inside. At that point I understood this was not
(08:37):
just a regular massage parlor, but one that was an
illicit massage business. Detective Anthony Sharp later testified and was
Sharp said illicit massage business. Let's be clear, what he
really meant was house of prostitution. According to findings of
human trafficking expert and author of Hidden in Plain Sight
(08:58):
Kimberly Melman Orosco, and as reported by Forbes, there is
a four and a half billion dollar erotic massage parlor
economy booming in the United States. And this is shocking
because everywhere in the United States except for Nevada, prostitution
is illegal. Less, Surprisingly, human trafficking is illegal everywhere in
(09:20):
the United States since it clearly violates human rights on
every level. So what exactly is human trafficking? How do
we define it as a society. Well, according to the
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, human trafficking is classified as one
of two things. It can refer to sex trafficking in
which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud,
(09:44):
or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform
such act has not attained eighteen years of age. Or
it can refer to the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or
obtaining of a person for labor or services through the
use force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection
(10:04):
to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt, bondage, or slavery. Human trafficking
is an abhorrent practice, and yet despite most people's appalled
response to the practice of human trafficking. According to the
Polaris Project, an organization whose experts analyzed data from the
US National Human Trafficking Hotline, reports of human trafficking have
(10:29):
increased every year since twenty fifteen, and in twenty eighteen,
when orchards of Asia was flagged by Karen Hertzog and
then promptly investigated by detectives Mike Fenton and Anthony Sharp. Well,
let's just say trafficking reports were surging. Between twenty eighteen
and twenty nineteen, reports of human trafficking increased by a
(10:49):
wapping nineteen percent in the United States. Detectives Fenton and
Sharp were confident that Orchids of Asia was an erotic
massage parlor based on their exterior stakeout, but they knew
they would need to provide additional evidence to bust the business.
After all, it's not always easy to prove misbehavior by
these massage parlors since they do, in fact tend to
(11:10):
offer legitimate services as well. You can walk in and
order up your standard Swedish deep tissue or hot stone
massage at these stripmall joints, but if you're looking for
something a little more more than a range of illegal
sex acts can be made available for an extra fee
if you seem like you might be in the market
for a happy ending. And sadly, according to the Polaris
(11:35):
Project in the Department of Justice, oftentimes the women employed
in these shadier massage parlors providing happy endings to those
who are either unwitting or downright predatory or victims of
human trafficking, which means they've been coerced or threatened into
their life of sexual servitude. In fact, the US State
Department has classified this scenario as modern day slavery because
(11:58):
these women are sometimes after without realizing what was happening
to them until it was too late. We stopped thinking
about just cages, bars and chains as means of coercion,
said John Richmond, the State Department's top anti trafficking official.
These criminals are using nonviolent forms of coercion. The victims
of human trafficking will have their identity documents taken and
(12:21):
they feel they have no way out. Often these women,
generally young women or even girls, don't speak English and
don't trust authorities, so they are unable or unwilling to
ask for help. But detectives Fenton and Sharp knew that
they had to try to help the girls and women
working in orchards of Asia, and that they needed more
(12:42):
than exterior surveillance to gain vital evidence. So on November fourteenth,
twenty eighteen, they went back to Inspector Karen Herzog and
asked her to survey the business more deeply. Now, this
wasn't a small ask because most erotic massage parlors have
connections to organized crime, and it can be extremely dangerous
for inspectors who pushed too hard. In fact, Karen Herzog
(13:06):
disguised herself as a customer in order to view Orchards
of Asia thoroughly from the inside, and what she found
was alarming. Beds were in the massage rooms, personal items
were in dressers, and the kitchen was stocked with food.
The women on site also seemed to be anxious and
on high alert throughout her visit. Karen later testified that
(13:26):
the SPA workers appeared agitated and failed to make eye contact.
I began to feel more and more uneasy, Karen recalled.
All the signs pointed to the fact that the women
were likely living full time at the SPA. Karen Herzog's
first report, followed by her second undercover report, compelled Detective
(13:46):
Sharp to search the SPA's trash, and it was the
dumpster dive that finally provided the smoking gun. Detectives found
napkins covered in seamen and a ripped up ledger that
they pieced back together, detailing Orchards Asia's client payments. The
police reasoned why would a legitimate business tear up business records,
(14:07):
and the logical answer was that an above board operation wouldn't,
but an illegitimate business very well might. Armed with sufficient
evidence that Orchards of Asia was affront for an illegal
house of prostitution, the Jupiter police began building their legal case.
They followed men after they left the spa and pulled
them over under the guise of minor traffic infections so
(14:28):
they could ask for ID and question them about where
they were coming from. And surprisingly, when questioned directly about
their activities at Orchids of Asia, the men often spilled
the beans describing the sexual services they received from the
women there. The men's willingness to talk, while helpful, illustrates
one of the big problems with the illicit massage parlor industry.
(14:50):
The men who received sexual services don't see the big picture,
and so they don't understand the gravity of their patronage.
They believe their happy endings are harmless fun rather than
a cog in the wheel of human trafficking. This dangerous
mainstream attitude towards happy ending massages is perpetuated by mainstream media,
and even popular E card companies like some e cards
(15:14):
Just consider some E card's viral tongue in cheek notes
with quips like the only place happy endings occur are
in fairy tales and seedy massage parlors. Many men would
get this ping to them by a work colleague chuckle,
and never consider the darker implications. This insidious ignorance is
a real problem for society and of course devastating for
(15:36):
the women being trafficked for the officers working on the
orchids of Asia busts. Though, being armed with the admissions
of some male clients from their traffic stops, combined with
Karen Herzog's observations in the spa and the trash from
the dumpster dive, made it possible for detectives Fenton and
Sharp to convince a local judge, Circuit Judge Howard Coates
(15:58):
to sign a sneak and Peaks warrant. A sneak in
peak search warrant is a special type of search warrant
that allows law enforcement officers to enter a property without
the occupant's knowledge and without immediately notifying them of the search.
It gives authorities the benefit of surprise. Under normal circumstances,
when a search warrant is executed, law enforcement is required
(16:20):
to provide notice to the property owner or occupant, typically
by knocking, announcing their presence and purpose, and then conducting
the search while the occupant is present. They are also
required to leave a copy of the signed search warrant
with the owner or occupant so they can see what
law enforcement was looking for and what they took under
the warrant. A sneak and peak warrant deviates from this
(16:43):
standard procedure to prevent the occupant from covering up evidence.
It permits authorities to delay notifying the occupant about the
warrant for a reasonable period of time to protect an
ongoing investigation. While initially intended for use in counter terrorism efforts,
sneak and peak warrants have also been employed in a
broader range of criminal investigations. The use of such warrants
(17:06):
in cases not directly related to terrorism has been a
point of contention and debate in the US regarding privacy
rights and the scope of law enforcement powers. But regardless
of your position on sneak and peak warrants. In January
twenty nineteen, when the police executed their plan at Orchids
of Asia, SPA and Jupiter, Florida. There's no doubt that
(17:26):
it gave authorities an edge in confirming human trafficking. In
one fell swoop, the police evacuated the SPA citing a
fictitious bomb threat and used this cover story as an
opportunity to install hidden cameras on the premises. They had
one camera directed at the spa entrance to capture customers' faces,
and hid additional cameras in four massage rooms. What they
(17:48):
captured over the next five days on those cameras was
shocking and fully validated all their worst fears. Watching over
a live feed, detectives witnessed more than twenty men as
they received sex victual services from women working at Orchards
of Asia, ranging from manual to oral sex. When the
Johns left the SPA, an officer would always follow them
(18:09):
and initiated traffic stop as a pretext for clearly identifying
the men. And guess what among the men stopped was
famed owner of the New England Patriots, seventy eight year
old Robert kraft I. Told you there would be a
link between the players in this dirty scandal, as Robert
Kraft left the SPA and his wife Bentley, Officer Scott
(18:31):
Kimbark stopped his car on the pretense of a minor
traffic violation. At this point, Robert Kraft asked the officer
if he was a Miami Dolphins fan and showed him
his Super Bowl ring, explaining that he was the owner
of the New England Patriots. After a bit of chit chat,
officer Kimbark, having accomplished his mission, let Kraft go with
a warning. Then he returned to his colleagues to review
(18:53):
what Craft had actually done at Orchards of Asia. Had
Craft been there for above board therapeutic massage services or
had he'd partaken in an illegal happy ending. Shockingly, Bogionaire
Robert Kraft had paid for and received sexual services from
SPA co owner Lulu and another worker, Shing Ming b.
(19:13):
He paid in cash and then, oblivious to the gravity
of the situation, later boasted to a friend about his
unexpected experience at Orchards of Asia SPA. According to an
article by Vanity Fair reporter Meijong, Kraft bragged to his friend,
you won't believe what happened to me. Then Kraft allegedly
shared how he'd gone for what he thought was a
(19:34):
regular massage, but that the masseuse had given him a
hand job instead. The friend angrily criticized Kraft forgetting a
rub and tug, and then Kraft, seemingly hurt, insisted that
it wasn't like that. He told his friend that he
felt a real connection with Lulu and Shingming b Was
(19:55):
it possible that Kraft was telling the truth? After all,
he had lost his wife my Hyatt to ovarian cancer
in twenty eleven and had broken up with actress Ricky
nol Land after a six year relationship right before his
twenty eighteen activity at Orchards of Asia. In his mind,
was he actually developing a relationship with his messuses. Whether
(20:16):
he did or he didn't, believe this to be the case,
what we do know is that later the same evening
of his visit, Robert Kraft received a call from Orchards
of Asia asking him to book in for another session.
According to Kraft's friend, he was thrilled and seemed to
lack all recognition that the SPA was merely soliciting repeat business,
(20:36):
and so the next day, unaware that he was now
a target of a major police investigation, Kraft returned to
Orchards of Asia, this time with the driver in a
twenty fifteen Blue Bentley. He arrived before eleven am, almost
laughably qualifying for the advertised early bird special of fifteen
dollars off. This time, Kraft allegedly received a hand job
(20:58):
and a blowjob from Lulu and left after just fourteen minutes.
Then he flew to Kansas City to watch his team
play the Chiefs in the NFL playoffs. The New England
Patriots won. What a day. There's a terrible quote with
a tinge of truth, once uttered by Mexican social reform
activist Ricardo Flores Magone. Workers are like lemons. When the
(21:21):
rich have sucked out all the juice, they throw them
in the garbage. And that's where this story might have
ended if the authorities in Florida hadn't worked diligently to
ensure that the truth came to light. On February nineteenth,
twenty nineteen, the Orchids of Asia scandal catapulted onto the
national stage. Sheriff William Schneider of South Florida held a
(21:43):
groundbreaking press conference. He announced that his local officers, in
collaboration with immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security had
uncovered a staggering twenty million dollars sex trafficking ring at
multiple day spaws, its tentacles stretching from New York and
China all the way to Florida, ensnaring countless women in
(22:04):
a web of deceit and coercion and sex. Sheriff Snyder
painted a harrowing picture. Many women lured under false pretenses
to the United States found themselves trapped in a nightmare,
forced to work in massage parlors, engaging in sex work
with up to one thousand men each year, their passports
and earning seized. These women were the true victims of
(22:27):
a sprawling, merciless criminal network. I don't believe they were
told they were going to work in massage parlors seven
days a week, having unprotected sex with up to one
thousand men a year. Sheriff Snyder insisted, and he was right.
In an expose by The New York Times, one human
trafficking victim's heartbreaking story was shared reporters Nicholas Coolish, Francis Roeblis,
(22:51):
and Patricia Mazzey wrote. She was forty nine, a recent
immigrant and deeply in debt to a loan shark back
home in China. When she answered an employment ad three
years ago that promised thousands of dollars a month but
offered no job description, she realized too late that she
had been tricked into working at a massage parlor in Flushing, Queens, where,
(23:13):
besides kneading backs, she was expected to sexually service up
to a dozen men a day. Some of the clients
were violent, and the boss charged ten dollars a day
for her to sleep on a sofa in a room
at the parlor, where rats nibbled on her food. She said,
the customers were very terrible. After you perform a service,
(23:33):
they would find an excuse to take the money away.
They would, she said, do even worse things. These women suffered,
and many continued to suffer terribly under the methodical, almost
clinical human trafficking operations in massage parlors across the United States.
(23:56):
Women working at the orchids of Asia Spas specifically, were
shuffled every ten to twenty days between this and other spas,
sleeping on massage tables, living in the shadows of society.
Sheriff Snyder announced that up to three hundred men, many
of whom were married or in relationships would face charges
for soliciting prostitution at orchards of Asia. The scandal was
(24:18):
no longer just about a small day spa in Jupiter.
It was about human lives being shattered by modern day
slavery across our nation. The investigation had unveiled a sophisticated
organization behind the sexual servitude of young women from Asia. Tragically,
police confirmed the women had been warned not to trust
(24:39):
law enforcement and rarely admitted to illegal transactions, even though
they too were caught on the sneak and peak warrant
videos from the orchards of Asia sting. Just three days
after Sheriff Snyder's pres announcement, Robert Kraft's anonymity and reputation
came tumbling down as Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave
Ehrenberg charged him with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution.
(25:03):
Human trafficking is evil in our midst Dave Arenberg told
reporters on February twenty second, twenty nineteen, modern day slavery
can happen anywhere, including in the peaceful community of Jupiter, Florida.
With his words, the press ran with another truth that
offenses can be perpetrated anywhere by anyone, including a legendary
(25:24):
businessman and sports team owner. Shock Waves tore through the
sports world as every industry headline bore news of the scandal.
Robert Kraft, a man synonymous with NFL's success, a multi
billionaire and a respected philanthropist, was now facing misdemeanor solicitation
of prostitution charges. He promptly pled not guilty, but that
(25:46):
didn't stop tongues from wagging. The NFL released a statement
saying they were monitoring the situation and noted that owners
were subject to the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy. What did
that actually mean? Well, the conduct policy is what gives
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell the power to find or suspend
players who engage in on or off field misconduct or
(26:07):
illegal behavior. So with the NFL's statement, it was made
clear that the conduct policy would be applied to team
owners who played dirty two. So what was to happen
now that the scandal was unraveling faster than a rat
up a dream pipe. Well, but police were not able
to identify all the women and considered to be victims
in the trafficking ring. What they did do, however, was
(26:30):
promptly arrest Mandy, one of the owners of Orchards of Asia, Spa.
Mandy sat down with Vanity Fair to recall the morning
of her arrest on February nineteenth, twenty nineteen. She was
making herself a cup of coffee when the police came
by to charge her, like an old fashioned madam, with
maintaining a house of prostitution. Somewhat amusedly, Mandy remembers that
(26:51):
at the time, I thought they must have made a mistake.
It's so funny they treat me as a treacherous criminal.
I can't believe what kind of system it is. Why
do you make such a big move against a family woman.
But while Mandy was indeed a mother, that certainly didn't
make her less culpable. Additional charges against her came quickly,
including soliciting others to engage in prostitution. She faced years
(27:15):
in prison, but as the US Department of Justice prosecutors
if long known, the real legal threat to Mandy was
minimal from the outset. That's because these cases are incredibly
difficult to prosecute. More often than not, the young women
who have been trafficked are reluctant or even completely unwilling
to cooperate with law enforcement, and without victims, there isn't
(27:37):
a compelling case to put before a jury. It's a
massive problem when victims don't speak English, don't trust law
enforcement because of historic issues in their own countries, and
rarely cooperate in prosecuting the pimps and madams exploiting them.
What ends up happening are investigations that make arrests, but
which result in little or no punishment of anyone. So
(27:59):
that's how this scandal shook out a totally distasteful outcome.
In November twenty twenty four women from orchards of Asia
took plea deals. Court records showed that Mandy pleaded guilty
to two misdemeanors out of the twenty nine charges brought
against her. A judge ordered her to serve one year
of probation, pay a five thousand dollar fine, and serve
(28:19):
one hundred hours of community service. Lu lu Wang, Mandy's
partner at the SPA, pled guilty to a misdemeanor count
of soliciting another to commit prostitution. Her plea marked the
end of an extensive legal battle involving herself and three
other defendants, Mandy, shen Ming b and Lei Chen, all
of whom had previously accepted plea deals. Judge Joseph Marx
(28:43):
of the fifteenth Judicial Circuit remarked during Lu lu Wang's hearing,
I believe that resolves all of the cases in this situation.
Like Mandy, Lulu sentence included one year of probation, of
five thousand dollar fine, and one hundred hours of community service.
The other charges against Lu, including a serious felony charge
of deriving support from the proceeds of prostitution, were dropped,
(29:07):
so basically having profited from others suffering, Mandy and Lulu
walked away with a tisc tisk punishment and warning not
to play dirty again. Shocking and in an equally shocking
turn of events, Florida prosecutors dropped all charges of soliciting
prostitution against Robert Kraft. This decision came after a key
(29:27):
court ruling that effectively dismantled the foundation of the prosecution's case.
The court ruled that Jupiter police had violated the rules,
as had Circuit Judge Howard Coates, who signed the warrant
when they planted secret video cameras at orchids of Asia SPA.
You see, the constitution protects us all from what are
called unreasonable searches. Now you may ask what is unreasonable, Well,
(29:52):
the courts decide that and often after the fact, and
the subjective nature of what constitutes an unreasonable sens search
can understandably be confusing for law enforcement. In Florida, it
turns out that there isn't any particular authorization for those
sneak and peak warrants. The state doesn't prohibit law enforcement
(30:12):
from using them, but it doesn't explicitly allow their use either.
So the bottom line was that detectives Mike Fenton and
Anthony Sharp took a big chance asking for sneak and
peak warrants to use in their investigation, and when it
came time to try their case in court, that gamble
did not pay off. The court declared that there are
five main rules that should be followed in the provision
(30:35):
of sneak and peak warrants, and that one of those
rules is a plan to ensure innocent people doing legal
things aren't caught up in the surveillance. On this rule,
the court found at least one female client receiving perfectly
legal massage services. Therefore, her privacy had been invaded by
the sneak and peak warrant usage, and the court determined
(30:56):
the entire scheme had to be tossed. The video evidence
dents of Robert Kraft allegedly engaging in illicit activity would
not be admitted into this or any other court case. Ever,
the case against Robert Kraft and at least twenty four
other men arrested in the sprawling investigation collapsed overnight as
all charges were dropped. Palm Beach State Attorney David Ehrenberg,
(31:19):
in a news conference, expressed his frustration at the court's ruling.
The Orchids of Asia Dayspa, he said, was a notorious
brothel and a family shopping center, but the economic inequalities
in the justice system, Arenberg lamented, allowed wealthy defendants like
Robert Kraft to hire top class legal teams that found
the loopholes and pushing on the legality of the sneak
(31:41):
and peak warrant usage had been a successful loophole. While
Robert Kraft walked away without legal repercussions, his public persona
had certainly taken a hit, and he did express public
remorse for his actions, stating I am truly sorry. I
know I have hurt and disappointed my family, my close friends,
my co workers, our fans, and many others who rightfully
(32:05):
hold me to a higher standard. Throughout my life, I
have always tried to do the right thing. The last
thing I would ever want to do is disrespect another
human being. I have extraordinary respect for women. My morals
and my soul were shaped by the most wonderful woman,
the love of my life, who I was blessed to
have as my partner for fifty years. As I move forward,
(32:28):
I hope to continue to use the platform with which
I have been blessed to help others and to try
to make a difference. I expect to be judged not
by my words, but by my actions, and through those actions,
I hope to regain your confidence and respect. I hope
all the dirty players in this scandal, from Robert Kraft
to Lulu Wong and Mandy Jong, walked away more empathetic
(32:52):
and a whole lot wiser. It's important to remember that
the scandals I share on this podcast run deeper than
sensational story. After all, these are people's messy lives, human beings,
often grappling with tremendous injustice and stacked societal imbalances. These
are important conversations we're having. Stay thirsty and join me
(33:13):
for next week's episode of Playing Dirty Sports Scandals to
continue our salacious sampling as we challenge perceptions of crime, punishment,
and privilege together. Playing Dirty Sports Scandals is a production
(33:36):
of Dan Patrick Productions, Never Ever Productions, and Workhouse Media
from executive producers Dan Patrick, Paul Anderson, Nick Panela, Maya Glickman,
and Jennifer Clary. Hosted by Jay Harris, Written and produced
by Jen Brown, Franci Haiks, Maya Glickman, and Jennifer Clary,
Host
Jay Harris
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