Alleged "D.C. Madam" Pleads Not Guilty
A former escort service owner who has threatened to sell a list of 15,000 phone numbers from her client list to help her defense pleaded not guilty Friday to racketeering.
Deborah Jean Palfrey, 50, of Vallejo, Calif., entered the plea in U.S. District Court. She was released but ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device.
The alleged "D.C. Madam" ran Pamela Martin and Associates, an upscale escort service in the Washington area, from her home for 13 years before it closed in August.
A federal indictment alleges that it was a prostitution ring that yielded $2 million in assets, including cash and homes. In October, the federal government froze the assets after a 2?-year IRS investigation. Palfrey is suing to have the assets returned.
A federal judge on Friday delayed a ruling on a request to block Palfrey from publicizing her client list. Also Friday, an attorney for Palfrey sued in U.S. District Court, seeking $75,000 in damages from a former employee she accused of illegal sexual activity.
Lawyer Montgomery Blair Sibley said that Palfrey's business was a legal fantasy service and that her employees signed contracts agreeing not to break the law.
The lawsuit is heightening anxiety that the names of high-profile clients and escorts will become public. Dick Morris, once a campaign adviser to former President Bill Clinton, has publicly acknowledged being a client.
There are about a dozen serious bidders for the 40 pounds of phone records, ranging from "checkbook journalists to the gold standard of American journalism," Sibley said. Attorneys for people who fear their names will become public are also after the records, he said.
A judge on Friday postponed the civil case until the criminal case unfolds.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Deborah Jean Palfrey, 50, of Vallejo, Calif., entered the plea in U.S. District Court. She was released but ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device.
The alleged "D.C. Madam" ran Pamela Martin and Associates, an upscale escort service in the Washington area, from her home for 13 years before it closed in August.
A federal indictment alleges that it was a prostitution ring that yielded $2 million in assets, including cash and homes. In October, the federal government froze the assets after a 2?-year IRS investigation. Palfrey is suing to have the assets returned.
A federal judge on Friday delayed a ruling on a request to block Palfrey from publicizing her client list. Also Friday, an attorney for Palfrey sued in U.S. District Court, seeking $75,000 in damages from a former employee she accused of illegal sexual activity.
Lawyer Montgomery Blair Sibley said that Palfrey's business was a legal fantasy service and that her employees signed contracts agreeing not to break the law.
The lawsuit is heightening anxiety that the names of high-profile clients and escorts will become public. Dick Morris, once a campaign adviser to former President Bill Clinton, has publicly acknowledged being a client.
There are about a dozen serious bidders for the 40 pounds of phone records, ranging from "checkbook journalists to the gold standard of American journalism," Sibley said. Attorneys for people who fear their names will become public are also after the records, he said.
A judge on Friday postponed the civil case until the criminal case unfolds.
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It will never see the light of day.
Didn't the Hollywood elite have a similar scandal, and list that was buried, and Heidi F. went to jail for many years ? Same thing will happen here. Two sets of rules.
then collect taxes from the call girls & rake in millions more in revenue & finally stop treating the worlds oldest profession as a crime.
Sorry about that I can see your intentions were good thank you.
how do you there were no Democrats there were you there with the Republican Caucus and Newt Baby.By the way how do you know so much about that profession?
Posted by baldfrog at 09:42 AM : Mar 10, 2007
Because when it comes to political ****** people only buy the ones with the power to help them and for the past 6 years that's been the republicans. As to how I know so much about ******, well I had a checkered past when I was much younger.