Mass Release of Madam's Records Not Likely

WASHINGTON - A collective sigh of relief could be going up Tuesday afternoon among the thousands who used or worked for a D.C. area escort service whose madam now faces federal racketeering charges.

Deborah Jean Palfrey had considered selling her telephone records to help pay for her legal defense.

Now after weeks of speculation about whose names would correspond to her telephone records, Palfrey's attorney tells WTOP a mass release of those records is not likely.

It turns out Palfrey's phone records will not go to the highest bidder. In fact, they won't cost a penny. They are going to a news organization.

Palfrey's civil attorney Montgomery Blair Sibley tells WTOP his client decided to part with her records without receiving payment because "she doesn't want to do the average customer any harm, unless that customer would be critical to her defense."

Palfrey is charged with running an upscale prostitution ring that had as many as 15,000 clients in the D.C. area between 1993 and 2006.

Sibley won't disclose which news organization will mine Palfrey's records. He's not doing so at the request of the news organization.

Many mainstream news organizations won't pay for information.

Sibley says the deal will allow the news organization to investigate Palfrey's phone numbers, logs and invoices.

"We're trusting them to have discretion in which names would be made public," he says.

Sibley says if the news organization finds any high-profile names, it will be allowed to publish them first, and alert Palfrey's criminal and civil attorneys after publication. Palfrey and Sibley have said they want to subpoena customers who might be able to prove what went on behind closed doors.

Palfrey, who operated under the business name Pamela Martin and Associates, has pleaded not guilty in federal court to racketeering and money laundering charges. She's been released and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.

(Copyright 2007 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)