D.C. Madam: Guilty
Jurors deliberated less than a day before reaching their verdict.
April 15, 2008— -- A federal jury found the so-called "D.C. Madam" guilty Tuesday on four felony charges stemming from her Washington-area prostitution business.
Jurors deliberated for less than a day before reaching their verdict, after listening to four days of sad testimony from more than a dozen former prostitutes and three clients.
Deborah Jeane Palfrey had maintained that she ran a "sexual fantasy services" outcall escort firm which prohibited illegal activity by the women who worked for it. She said she was unaware of sex between her clients and the women who worked for her.
Palfrey did not testify, nor did the handful of high-profile figures whose phone numbers had appeared in her business' telephone records.
Palfrey's firm operated without interruption by law enforcement from 1993 to 2006, reportedly employed more than 130 women and brought in roughly $2 million in revenue, according to prosecutors.
U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson declined a request by prosecutors to hold Palfrey pending her July 24 sentencing.
The jury convicted Palfrey of racketeering, money laundering, and two counts of using the mail for illegal purposes.