|
|
|
(Photo: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
|
Deborah Jeane Palfrey was convicted April 15, 2008, by a federal jury of running a prostitution service that catered to members of Washington's political elite, including Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican.
She had denied her escort service engaged in prostitution, saying that if any of the women engaged in sex acts for money, they did so without her knowledge.
She was convicted of money laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes and racketeering. But her trial concluded without revealing many new details about the service or its clients. Vitter was among possible witnesses, but did not take the stand.
Palfrey faced a maximum of 55 years in prison and was free pending her sentencing July 24 when it was reported she had committed suicide May 1 near her mother's home in Tarpon springs, Fla.
"I am sure as heck am not going to be going to federal prison for one day, let alone, you know, four to eight years here, because I'm shy about bringing in the deputy secretary of whatever," Palfrey told ABC last year when she released phone records that revealed some of her clients. "Not for a second. I'll bring every last one of them in if necessary."
Prosecutors said Palfrey operated the prostitution service for 13 years.
Vitter, a first-term senator who is married and has four children, has acknowledged being involved with Palfrey's escort service and has apologized for what he called a "very serious sin." But he avoided commenting further.
One of the escort service employees was former University of Maryland, Baltimore County, professor Brandy Britton, who was arrested on prostitution charges in 2006. She committed suicide in January before she was scheduled to go to trial.
Last year, Palfrey said she, too, was humiliated by her prostitution charges, but said: "I guess I'm made of something that Brandy Britton wasn't made of."
|
|
|
