Anthony Pellicano

8 Stories

Die Hard Director Gets Year in Jail for Lying

Judge does not feel bad for John McTiernan

(Newser) - John McTiernan, director of Predator and Die Hard, got one year in the slammer yesterday for lying to an FBI agent and a judge. McTiernan admitted to hiring private investigator Anthony Pellicano in 2006 to wiretap a producer he had worked with, but later lied about his association with Pellicano...

Hollywood Shamus Gets 15 Years

(Newser) - Former Hollywood detective Anthony Pellicano was sentenced 15 years in prison today, Variety reports. Convicted earlier this year on 78 counts including wiretapping and conspiracy, Pellicano was also told to pay $2 million with two other defendants. Former Los Angeles Times reporter Anita Busch, who helped bring Pellicano to trial,...

Hollywood Private Eye Found Guilty

'Ultimate problem solver' Pellicano faces hefty term after racketeering conviction

(Newser) - Celebrity private detective Anthony Pellicano was found guilty today of 76 of the 77 charges he faced, including racketeering, wire fraud, and illegal wiretapping, the Los Angeles Times reports. Pellicano, 64, could face a life sentence after prosecutors won conviction on charges he illegally threatened and placed several prominent celebrities...

Shandling Says Private Eye Smeared Him

He's the first big celebrity to testify in the Pellicano trial

(Newser) - Comedian Garry Shandling took the stand yesterday and accused Los Angeles private eye Anthony Pellicano of using underhanded tactics to "smear" him. Shandling’s former manager hired Pellicano after promising to “make my life miserable,” Shandling said. The FBI soon told Shandling that the detective had rifled...

Private Eye's Assistant Spills on Stand

Arranged wiretaps, transcribed tapes for Hollywood's Pellicano

(Newser) - A former assistant to Anthony Pellicano, improbably named Tarita Virtue, told a packed courtoom yesterday that she transcribed many wiretapped conversations for the Hollywood private eye, Variety reports. She explained Pellicano's wiretapping process step by step, and described the detective's security system, including punch-code locks on every room  and files...

Hollywood Private-Eye Trial Begins
Hollywood Private-Eye
Trial Begins
Mar 7, 2008 4:35 AM CST

Hollywood Private-Eye Trial Begins

Celebs expected to be called in Pellicano racketeering case

(Newser) - The illegal wiretapping and racketeering trial of Hollywood private detective Anthony Pellicano kicked off yesterday with a celebrity-studded witness list that sounds more like a casting call than a legal action, the Guardian reports. Sylvester Stallone, Farrah Fawcett and Chris Rock are among 127 possible prosecution witnesses. Studio heads and...

Dunne Wanted Daughter's Murderer Killed

Now-disgraced PI talked famed crime writer down

(Newser) - Crime writer Dominick Dunne asked Anthony Pellicano to put out a contract on his daughter’s killer’s life—and relented only when the private investigator talked him down. Dunne hired the now-incarcerated Pellicano to follow John Thomas Sweeney in the mid-1980s; the Vanity Fair writer now tells Slate he...

Seagal Is Back, and This Time It's Personal

Action star targets FBI for sabotaging his career

(Newser) - Steven Seagal, the high-kicking, cartel-busting action star that dominated the "Under Siege" movies in the early 90s, is demanding an apology from the FBI for allegedly shattering his stardom, the LA Times reports. Seagal's career didn't prove that hard to kill—he has been headlining in low-rent straight-to-DVD films...

8 Stories