From the AP:

A woman police believe to be convicted Washington escort service operator Deborah Jeane Palfrey committed suicide, officials said Thursday.

Police said the body was found in a shed near Palfrey’s mother’s home Thursday morning. There was a suicide note, but police did not disclose its contents or how she killed herself.

Police did not immediately have additional comment when reached by telephone. Palfrey’s attorney, Preston Burton, did not return a telephone call and e-mail message.

Palfrey was convicted April 15 by a federal jury of running a prostitution service that catered to members of Washington’s political elite, including Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican.

She had denied her escort service engaged in prostitution, saying that if any of the women engaged in sex acts for money, they did so without her knowledge.

She was convicted of money laundering, using the mail for illegal purposes and racketeering. Palfrey faced a maximum of 55 years in prison and was free pending her sentencing July 24.

It’s a real tragedy that Ms. Palfrey took her own life. She was facing 55 years in prison for what shouldn’t even be a crime in this country. She ran a successful escort service for 13 years in which all the lawmakers and bigwigs of D.C. used her services on a regular basis, then one day they decide to prosecute her.

The entire ugly episode stinks of hypocrisy and represents a colossal waste of millions of tax payer dollars to try and convict Debra Jean Palfrey. I know citizens of D.C. breathed a collective sigh of relief when the news came down that Ms. Palfrey had been convicted and will soon be taken off the streets.

Washington D.C. is one of the most violent cities in America. Bloody gang-related murders are an everyday occurrence and claim the lives of dozens of people every year.

So rather than hunting down a thug or maybe even taking down a gang leader, the feds chose to hunt down a middle aged woman who ran an escort service and see to it that she does some hard time.

Well done.

-Chris Jones