D.C. Madam Commits Suicide

Sentencing/Post Conviction

Posted May 1, 2008, 03:07 pm CDT
By Martha Neil

Convicted earlier this month in a case concerning her operation of a Washington, D.C., prostitution ring that catered to nation's political elite, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the woman known as the D.C. Madam has reportedly committed suicide.

The body of a woman believed to be Palfrey, 52, was found by her 76-year-old mother today in a shed near her mother's home in Tarpon Springs, Fla., on the Gulf Coast about 30 miles northeast of Tampa, according to the Associated Press and Bloomberg. A suicide note was found, and reporting by both AP and Bloomberg indicates that Palfrey apparently hanged herself in the shed.

Found guilty April 15 by a federal jury of money laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes and racketeering, Palfrey reportedly faced a sentence of as much as 55 years in prison at her scheduled sentencing on July 24. Sentencing guidelines, however, called for much less time: between 57 and 71 months.

"This is a tragic news and my heart goes out to her mother," Preston Burton, a defense attorney for Palfrey, tells AP.

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Sentencing/Post Conviction