from: wikipedia

Biography

Palfrey was born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, but grew up partially in Orlando, Florida. Her father was a grocer. She graduated from Rollins College with a degree in criminal justice, and attended Thomas Jefferson School of Law, but did not graduate. Working as a paralegal in San Diego, California, and later as a cocktail waitress, she became involved in the escort business, and, dismayed at how most services were run, including widespread drug abuse, she started her own company.

D.C. Madam scandal

Palfrey appeared on ABC's 20/20 as part of an investigative report on 4 May 2007. In combination with Palfrey's statement that she has 10,000 to 15,000 phone numbers of clients, this has caused several clients' lawyers to contact Palfrey to see whether accommodations could be made to keep their identities private. Ultimately, ABC News, after going through what was described as "46 lbs" [21 kg] of phone records, decided that none of the potential clients was sufficiently "newsworthy" to bother mentioning.

The scandal has led to the resignation of Ambassador Randall L. Tobias from his State Department position and as the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Also named was Washington Times columnist Harlan Ullman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

On July 9th, 2007 Palfrey released the supposed entirety of her phone records for public viewing and download on the Internet in TIFF format, though days prior to this, her civil attorney Montgomery Blair Sibley had dispatched 54 CD-ROM copies to researchers, activists, and journalists. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) acknowledged on the night of July 9th that he had been a customer of Palfrey's escort service.

Prior legal problems

Palfrey had prior legal problems, including a restraining order from a former boyfriend in 1989, and a 1990 arrest for prostitution. After fleeing to Montana, she was brought back for trial and spent 18 months in jail. After her release, she founded Pamela Martin and Associates. The service openly recruited using The Diamondback, an independent University of Maryland student newspaper, and the Washington City Paper. According to court papers, her escorts charged as much as $300 per hour, and in addition, many have had professional careers. Palfrey continued to reside in California, and may have cleared some US$2 million over 13 years in operation.

In October 2006, United States Postal Inspection Service agents posed as a couple who were interested in buying her home as a means of accessing her property without a warrant. Agents froze bank accounts worth over US$500,000, seizing papers relating to money laundering and prostitution charges.

On April 15, 2008 a jury found Palfrey guilty on multiple counts of racketeering and money laundering.

Death

She wrote in August 1991 following an attempt to bring her to trial,"If taken into custody, my physical safety and most probably my very life would be jeopardized, rape, beating, maiming, disfigurement and more than likely murder disguised in the form of just another jailhouse accident or suicide would await me," said Palfrey in a handwritten letter to the judge accusing the San Diego police vice squad of having a vendetta against her.

"No I'm not planning to commit suicide," Palfrey told The Alex Jones Show on her last appearance. She also said "that she was at risk of being killed and that authorities would make it look like suicide" and that "if she was found dead it would be murder." "I'm planning on going into court and defending myself vigorously and exposing the government," she said.

On May 1, 2008 Palfrey died in Tarpon Springs, Florida, from what authorities have called as suicide. She was staying with her mother at the time. Palfrey's body was found in a small storage shed attached to her mother's mobile home. She had apparently hanged herself from a beam inside the shed. Tarpon Springs police reported finding handwritten suicide notes near the body.