"D.C. Madam" Speaks with ABC News

[babylonsister]

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/dc_madam_speaks.html

"D.C. Madam" Speaks with ABC News

April 09, 2007 4:42 PM

Justin Rood Reports:


ABC News investigative correspondent Brian Ross recently interviewed Palfrey, who for over a decade operated what she terms an "erotic fantasy service" in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area, for an upcoming report on "20/20."

Last October, federal prosecutors charged Palfrey with racketeering offenses in connection with the business, which she contends was a legal operation. From 1993 to August 2006, Palfrey ran a high-end escort service in the nation's capital, charging a flat fee for 90-minute "dates" with women between the ages of 23 and 55 whom she termed independent contractors.

The women signed contracts agreeing not to engage in illegal activity, including having sex for money, Palfrey says, and were given guidelines on the difference between legal and illegal sexual behavior. At least one woman, Dr. Paula Neble, is known to have told federal prosecutors that she had sex for money while working for Palfrey. Palfrey is suing her for breach of contract.

Palfrey has claimed that her service's clients were "upscale" and "came from the more refined walks of life." In March, she made headlines by briefly offering to sell the phone records of her company, Pamela Martin and Associates, to the highest bidder. She withdrew the offer after a federal judge ruled the government could confiscate any proceeds. Shortly thereafter, Palfrey consented to be interviewed by ABC.

The network did not compensate Palfrey in any way for her interview or cooperation with Ross' 20/20 report. "There was no consideration given or promised for Jean's cooperation with the story," said lawyer Montgomery Blair Sibley, who represents Palfrey in her effort to reclaim money and property seized by the government.

Palfrey recently dismissed the federal public defender representing her in the criminal case against her. She has asked the government to return $500,000 in her assets so she can pay for a new criminal lawyer; given that the government has unlimited resources with which to prosecute her, she has reasoned, the amount would be "fair play and due process."

[Warren DeMontague]

1. Yeah. Another place where our tax dollars are hard at work going after consensual adult activity

that really ought to be no one else's fucking business.

Enough, already. Legalize and tax it, just like pot. I'm sick of paying to keep the church lady crowd happy.

[hang a left]

4. This is the woman involved in hookergate.

[Warren DeMontague]

5. I understand. What I don't understand is why my tax dollars don't have anything better to do

than go after consenting adults who pay each other for sex.

[hang a left]

6. What if those tax dollars are going after criminals in DC

and what about your tax dollars that have gone to fraudulent war profiteers?

[Clark2008]

7. It's not just the "church lady" crowd.

As a woman, I'm against legalizing it because I want women to have more options in life than selling their bodies.

If we were paid as well as men, we probably wouldn't have to resort to this. It isn't a choice when you have few skills and two or three mouths to feed. Waitressing simply doesn't pay as much as construction.

I had a friend who was a stripper and she became addicted to drugs just to get through the night. I can't imagine what life would be like for her if she'd actually had to have sex with the cretins who came to watch her.

Believe me - not a pretty life.

I understand your point, however, but just keep in mind that feminists don't like this profession any more than church ladies.

:hi:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. ross is an ass I refuse to watch.

his lies still sting.

[youngdem]

3. She's looking for a deal by going public but not naming names, trying to get her big clients nervous

She's hoping that the threat of her client's list going public will make forces work behind the scenes to get her a very light sentence.

Good idea. If she doesn't do this, she will get buried with a long sentence to shut her up.

This happened here in New Orlens in 2002. The FBI spent six months investigating (AND VISITING) a whore house uptown right after 9/11. She went public and said EVERYONE went to her, so she didn't understand the problem. The JUDGE excoriated the FBI for wasting resources on whore houses in New Orleans in the months following 9/11 and her charges got her no real jail time, and she has since written a book.