Alleged Prostitute Threatens To Sell Client List

Attorneys for a California woman indicted for running a prostitution ring in the DC area are not only threatening to sell the phone records of her clients to raise money for her defense - they also say they'll subpoena the men to testify if the government goes to trial.

Prosecutors say 50-year-old Deborah Jean Palfrey operated a call girl service that generated about two million dollars in income over 13 years. Her customers allegedly paid her employees, college-educated women in their 20s, up to 300 dollars for sex.

But Palfrey contends that she operated a legal escort service. A Web site seeking donations to her legal defense fund says Palfrey is considering selling phone records dating to 1993 that include the numbers of about 10,000 clients in the Washington area.

Prosecutors won't comment on the client list or the possibility that Palfrey will make it public.

Palfrey is scheduled to appear next Friday in federal court in Washington.