Lawyer: Media outlet has alleged D.C. madam's records

Story Highlights

• Federal judge bars escort service owner from selling company records
• "The horse is out of the barn," lawyer for Deborah Palfrey says
• Palfrey says she needs to sell records to raise cash to pay for her defense
• She was indicted on money laundering and racketeering charges

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A federal judge ruled Friday that the alleged "Washington Madam" cannot sell phone records and other business records, but her attorney said copies of those records have already been handed over to a media outlet.

Deborah Jeane Palfrey's civil defense attorney, Montgomery Blair Sibley, said no money changed hands and the originals are safe and sound.

"The horse is out of the barn," he told CNN. "It's too late for the judge to close the door."

Earlier, Sibley said that the deal to turn over the documents would be finalized next week and that the identity of the media outlet would become evident when it files stories on the contents of the records.

Palfrey has argued that she needed to sell the records to pay for her mounting defense bills.

Prosecutors filed a motion to stop Palfrey, 50, from selling the records, which contain contact information from up to 15,000 former clients. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler granted a temporary restraining order and set a hearing on the matter for Monday.

A grand jury indicted Palfrey March 1 on money laundering and racketeering charges in connection with her former business -- Pamela Martin & Associates escort service. She pleaded not guilty to the charges on March 2.

The company operated from 1993 to 2006.

Kessler released Palfrey but ordered her to be monitored with an electronic device and confiscated her passport.

A status hearing in the case is scheduled for April 12.

Palfrey, in a statement last week, described her former business as a "legal, high-end, erotic fantasy service" and an "adult outcall service agency."

Palfrey has also said that each of her employees signed a contract not to engage in illegal conduct, and no claims were made to clients that they would do illegal activities.