Judge Gags D.C. Madam: Don't Tell Phone Info
A federal judge in the so-called D.C. Madam criminal racketeering and money laundering case has ordered defendant Deborah Jeane Palfrey to stop handing out client phone numbers to media outlets and others not involved in the prosecution over her alleged prostitution ring.
Likening Palfrey’s practice of providing client phone numbers to news media to witness intimidation, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler issued a temporary restraining order yesterday prohibiting Palfrey and her lawyer from continuing to do so, the Washington Post reports. At least one alleged client, a U.S. State Department administrator, has resigned as a result of an earlier release of phone numbers on her client list to ABC News.
Palfrey said she did so to help find potential witnesses to help in her defense. She contends her escort service was a legitimate business that offered legal massages and fulfilled sexual fantasies.
