'D.C. Madam' apparent suicide
Convicted two weeks ago of running a prostitution ring, she had said she would never go to prison.
TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - Deborah Jeane Palfrey, convicted two weeks ago of being the "D.C. Madam," hanged herself yesterday, apparently making good on her vow never to go to prison for running a high-end Washington prostitution ring.
Her body was found in a shed near her mother's home 20 miles northwest of Tampa. Police said Palfrey, 52, left at least two suicide notes and other writings to her family in a notebook. They did not disclose their contents.
Palfrey apparently hanged herself with nylon rope from the shed's ceiling. Her mother, Blanche Palfrey, found the body. Officers were outside the mother's white-and-pink home in the community of mostly retirees.
"This is tragic news and my heart goes out to her mother," said Preston Burton, who represented Palfrey in her trial.
A federal jury convicted her April 15 of running a prostitution service that catered to members of Washington's elite, including Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican. She was convicted of money-laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes, and racketeering.
Palfrey denied her escort service engaged in prostitution, saying that if any of the women engaged in sex for money, it was without her knowledge.
The trial concluded without revealing many new details about the service or its clients.
Channing Phillips, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Columbia, said that under sentencing guidelines, Palfrey faced five or six years in prison. She was free while she awaited sentencing July 24.
"I am sure as heck 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.
Dan Moldea, a Washington writer, had befriended Palfrey while considering writing a book about her. Yesterday, he recalled a conversation over dinner last year when the subject of prison came up.
"She said: 'I am not going back to prison. I will commit suicide first,' " Moldea said.