Deborah Jeane Palfrey
 | This article is currently being heavily edited because its subject has recently died. Information about their death and related events may change significantly and initial news reports may be unreliable. The most recent updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
Deborah Jeane Palfrey | |
|---|---|
| Died | 2008-05-01 |
| Cause of death | suicide |
| Other names | D.C. Madam |
Deborah Jeane Palfrey (1956 - 2008)[1] was the former owner of Pamela Martin and Associates, which the United States government alleges was a prostitution service in Washington, D.C. She was charged with operating a house of prostitution.[2] Palfrey claims the services she offered were legal.[2] She has been nicknamed the D.C. Madam by the news media.
On April 15, 2008, she was found guilty by a DC jury on all counts.
She lived in Escondido, California prior to being found dead at her mother's home on May 1, 2008 in Tarpon Springs, Florida.
Biography
Palfrey was born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, but grew up partially in Orlando, Florida. Her father was a grocer. She graduated from Rollins College with a degree in criminal justice, and attended Thomas Jefferson School of Law, but did not graduate.[2] Working as a paralegal in San Diego, California and later as a cocktail waitress,[3] she became involved in the escort business, and, dismayed at how most services were run, including widespread drug abuse, she started her own company.[2]
D.C. Madam scandal
Palfrey appeared on ABC's 20/20 as part of an investigative report on 4 May 2007.[4] In combination with Palfrey's statement that she has 10,000 to 15,000 phone numbers of clients, this has caused several clients' lawyers to contact Palfrey to see whether accommodations could be made to keep their identities private.[5] Ultimately, ABC News, after going through what was described as "46 lbs" [21 kg] of phone records, decided that none of the potential clients was sufficiently "newsworthy" to bother mentioning.[6]
The scandal has led to the resignation of Ambassador Randall L. Tobias from his State Department position and as the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Also named was Washington Times columnist Harlan Ullman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
On July 9th, 2007 Palfrey released the supposed entirety of her phone records for public viewing and download on the Internet in TIFF format, though days prior to this, her civil attorney Montgomery Blair Sibley had dispatched 54 CD-ROM copies to researchers, activists, and journalists. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) acknowledged on the night of July 9th that he had been a customer of Palfrey's escort service.
Prior legal problems
Palfrey had prior legal problems, including a restraining order from a former boyfriend in 1989, and a 1990 arrest for prostitution. After fleeing to Montana, she was brought back for trial and spent 18 months in jail.[2] After her release, she founded Pamela Martin and Associates. The service openly recruited using The Diamondback, an independent University of Maryland student newspaper, and the Washington City Paper. According to court papers, her escorts charged as much as $300 per hour, and in addition, many have had professional careers. Palfrey continued to reside in California, and may have cleared some US$2 million over 13 years in operation.[2]
In October 2006, United States Postal Inspection Service agents posed as a couple who were interested in buying her home as a means of accessing her property without a warrant.[7][8] Agents froze bank accounts worth over US$500,000, seizing papers relating to money laundering and prostitution charges.[8]
Guilty
On April 15, 2008 a jury found Palfrey guilty on multiple counts of racketeering and money laundering.
Death
On March 13th 2008 Deborah Jeane Palfrey stated live on the Alex Jones Show that she would never kill herself.[citation needed]
On May 1, 2008 Palfrey allegedly committed suicide in Tarpon Springs, Florida. She was staying with her mother at the time.[1] Palfrey's body was found in a small storage shed attached to her mother's mobile home. Tarpon Springs police reported finding handwritten suicide notes near the body.[9]
References
- ^ a b "Photo: Deborah Jeane Palfrey, Alleged D.C. Madam Suicide". The Post Chronicle. 1 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c d e f "'I Abhor Injustice,' Alleged Madam Says". The Washington Post. 29 April, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
Miz Julia was the pseudonym for Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the woman at the center of a sex scandal that has caused a deputy secretary of state to resign and has lawyers calling around town trying to keep their clients' names out of public view. A one-time law student, Palfrey ran for 13 years what she insists was a legal escort service. Federal prosecutors allege she was providing $300-an-hour prostitutes, and a grand jury indicted her in February on federal racketeering charges.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "The D.C. Madam Speaks". Retrieved 2007-08-27.
- ^ ""D.C. Madam" Speaks with ABC News". ABC News' The Blotter. 2007-04-29.
- ^ "Focus of D.C. sex scandal remains a mystery". The Register-Guard. 2007-04-29.
- ^ Buncombe, Andrew. "Network refuses to name clients of 'DC madam'". The Independent. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
{{cite web}}: Text "2007-05-06" ignored (help) - ^ The D.C. Madam Speaks! - 10 Zen Monkeys
- ^ a b "New D.C. Sex Scandal Looming? Feds target escort service in money launder, prostitution probe". The Smoking Gun. 9 October 2006. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "DC Madam commits suicide in Tarpon Springs". myFox Tampa Bay. 2008-05-01. Retrieved 2008-05-01.