WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Attorneys for New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and 14 other men charged with soliciting prostitution at a Jupiter day spa want to keep surveillance-camera video that allegedly incriminates the men out of public view.

Jupiter police have said they covertly installed cameras inside the Orchids of Asia Day Spa and have graphic video of Kraft, a part-time Palm Beach resident, and others allegedly involved in sex acts and exchanging money with spa workers.

Court documents show the joint motion to suppress the videos was filed Wednesday by Jason S. Weiss, the attorney for one of the 25 men charged in the case by the Palm Beach County state attorney’s office. Weiss also is a partner in a firm that includes Jack Goldberger, who represents Kraft. Neither Goldberg nor Weiss could be reached for comment Wednesday.

According to the motion, state law exempts the videos from public view because they involve “active criminal intelligence information and/or active criminal investigative information.”

It also states the videos should not be disclosed publicly because it may include images of a “victim,” presumably women employed at the spa. Although the defendants “dispute the position of prosecutors that there may be a ‘victim’ of any offense at issue in these cases, that mere possibility provides an additional basis” for keeping the videos sealed, the motion says.

The court filing came just hours after CNN reported that Kraft will not accept an offer made by the state attorney’s office to each of the 25 defendants that would drop the misdemeanor charge if the men met several stipulations.

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The deal calls for the men to perform 100 hours of community service, pay a $5,000 fine and court costs, complete an education class about prostitution, get screened for sexually transmitted diseases and admit in court they would have been found guilty at trial, office spokesman Mike Edmondson said.

In exchange, the misdemeanor charges they are facing would be dropped. Edmondson said the deal is one that is usually offered to first-time offenders accused of committing nonviolent crimes.

Resolution of some of the cases may begin as early as next week when many of the defendants have hearings scheduled. Kraft’s arraignment is set for March 28 at the North County Courthouse in Palm Beach Gardens, although Goldberger has indicated his client won’t appear. John Havens, a former chief operating officer at Citigroup, also has a hearing scheduled for the same day and courtroom.

The NFL has said it is “seeking a full understanding of the facts” before considering any disciplinary action against Kraft.

The investigation has targeted storefront day spas in Jupiter and in Martin and Indian River counties that has led to arrests both of people who ran the businesses and the men who used them.

Authorities have alleged women were brought to Florida from China under the guise of having legitimate jobs at the spas, only to be forced to perform sex acts on male customers. They have also said the women were largely confined to the spas, sleeping and eating there when not working.

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That confinement has raised the accusation that the spas were involved in human trafficking, although no one arrested in the investigation is facing a human-trafficking charge.

Li “Cindy” Yang, the former owner of the Orchids of Asia spa who has been accused of selling access to President Trump, told NBC News on Wednesday those accusations are the result of her ethnicity and political leanings. Democratic lawmakers have asked the FBI to investigate Yang.

“I’m a Republican and I’m Chinese,” Yang said. “That’s the reason the Democrats want to check me.”

Through a spokeswoman, Yang told the Palm Beach Post on Wednesday that she has never met Kraft. Yang told NBC News she sold the business in 2012 or 2013.

“How they do business has nothing to do with me,” Yang said.

Staff writer John Pacenti contributed to this story.


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