Criminal Case Against Alleged Madam To Precede Civil Case

California woman who once operated an escort service in the Washington area will have to resolve a pending criminal case before she proceeds with a civil lawsuit against federal authorities.

Deborah Jean Palfrey was indicted last week on racketeering and other charges. Authorities said she has been trying to force the return of about $500,000 of her property that was seized

A federal judge ruled Friday that the criminal case against Palfrey must be resolved before the civil matter can be heard.

Prosecutors said the call-girl service hired college-educated women to cater to men in hotels and homes in Washington and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs.

Federal prosecutors contend the escort service promoted prostitution.

Palfrey denied any role in illegal activities and said that for 13 years she headed a "legal, high-end erotic fantasy service."

Emerging from the Washington offices of her court-appointed attorney near U.S. District Court where she was arraigned this morning on federal racketeering charges, Palfrey said that she hired college educated women between the ages of 23-55 to provide an "upscale" escort service and a "refined way of life" to her clients.

Palfrey said her firm Pamela Martin and Associates, "did not engage in illegal behavior."

Her attorney, in a separate civil suit, Montgomery Blair Sibley, said that Palfrey has her "back to the wall," and threatens to reveal what he says are more than 15,000 telephone record of her clients. Sibley said that there are at least 12 news organizations and publications interested in seeking access to those lists. Sibley did not say the client list was for sale, rather he said Palfrey wanted to "partner" with someone who could "mine the list on what went on," which Palfrey insisted was not illegal sexual activity.

Sibley also announced that Palfrey has filed another suit in federal court against Dr. Paula Neble and 15 Jane Does seeking damages in excess of $75,000.

The suit contends that Neble materially breached her contract with Palfrey "by engaging in illegal sexual activities with customers of the escort service without the knowledge or consent of Plaintiff."

The court filing states that Neble signed a contract with Pamela Martin and Associates "to solely provide legal sexual services to the customers of the escort service thereby establishing a legitimate bond between the parties."

Palfrey's legal defense fund, www.deborahjeanepalfrey.com says, "consideration is being given to selling the entire 46 pounds of detailed and itemized phone records for the 13 year period, to raise the requisite defense funds." Included on the web-site is "An example from a randomly selected 6 day period in August of 1996," containing a Sprint phone bill and 124 phone numbers in an around the Washington area.