Authorities working on the Florida sex spa case said that they misidentified one of the dozens of men that they have arrested in connection to the prostitution sting.
Sandipkumar Patel, 47, was detained on Monday and charged with structure of conveyance for prostitution and soliciting prostitution.
The Jensen Beach resident was wrongly identified as having visited the Florida Therapy Spa in Stuart on November 19, Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Dougherty said.
On Friday, the charges against Patel were dropped in court papers. His lawyer – David Golden – had entered a not guilty plea for his client on Thursday, the TC Palm reports.
Sandipkumar Patel, 47, was wrongly identified as having visited the Florida Therapy Spa (pictured) in Stuart on November 19
In an emailed statement, Golden asserted: ‘Patel embodies all the good that the United States is supposed to represent.’
‘He came from India to this ‘land of opportunity’ and made Martin County his home. He became a U.S. Citizen, and lived the American Dream every day with his wife of 20 years, their two remarkable daughters, and close extended family.’
Golden described how the arrest has been devastating for his client.
‘In a country that prides itself on constitutional protections and a presumption of innocence, the thought that he was branded, and called a ‘monster’ by an institution he once held in high esteem is something he is tortured with every day,’ Golden added.
Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Dougherty said investigators are ‘extremely confident’ that they have found the rest of the suspects from all the spas
According to Dougherty, the confusion stemmed from a four-door Porsche that was registered to a woman with the last name Patel.
It was also co-registered to a man, not named Patel, who was not the man seen on video going into the spa.
Officials began researching the car to see if Patel had a husband.
Investigators found Sandipkumar when looking up Patels in Martin County. They believed his license photo resembled the man seen in the video.
‘It wasn’t him that was in the Porsche,’ Dougherty admitted. ‘It was somebody else.’
He added that when the men were arrested, Sandipkumar Patel was the most convincing when he asserted that it wasn’t him.
Investigators then had to go back and look to see who was actually in the spa, Dougherty added.
‘We definitely know who the guy is, we’re sure, but we are following through trying to figure out if we want to actually pursue that particular case or not because we already had one bad ID from it, which we acknowledge and we recognize,’ he said.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution in connection to the spa
Dougherty said investigators are ‘extremely confident’ that they have found the rest of the suspects
‘We are double- and triple-checking it again and again just to make sure,’ Dougherty said.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of soliciting prostitution in connection to the spa.
Kraft requested a non-jury trial, in which his fate would be determined solely by a judge.
‘The defendant Robert Kraft hereby pleads not guilty to all charges and requests a non-jury trial in the above-styled cause,’ read the court record, obtained by DailyMail.com.
An arraignment has been set for March 27, which is when the 77-year-old billionaire was expected to attend NFL owners meetings in Phoenix.
Kraft was among hundreds charged in a multi-department investigation into massage parlor prostitution and human trafficking at Florida spas. Thus far, ten spas have been closed and several people, primarily women from China, have been charged with running the prostitution ring. Police say there is video evidence of everyone accused of solicitation in the case.