Anthony Pellicano news stories on Newser

Die Hard Director Gets Year in Jail for Lying

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 10:13:40 CDT

John McTiernan, director of Predator and Die Har d , 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...

Hollywood Shamus Gets 15 Years

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:26:07 CST

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

Nick McMaster — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:17:15 CDT

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

Kevin Spak — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:41:39 CDT

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 through confidential police files,...

Private Eye's Assistant Spills on Stand

Rob Quinn — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 10:16:53 CST

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

Rob Quinn — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:35:48 CST

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

Jonas Oransky — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 11:00:11 CDT

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 wanted the...

Seagal Is Back, and This Time It's Personal

Dustin Lushing — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:45:41 CDT

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 ever...