Following a three-year FBI investigation (see Nov. 11, 2003), Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano pleaded not guilty to a 110-count federal indictment (PDF) unsealed Monday. “Pellicano, 61, is charged with organizing and masterminding a corrupt enterprise that allegedly wiretapped phones, entered private computers without authorization, committed wire fraud, bribery, identity theft and obstruction of justice.” Targets of his illegal snooping are said to include celebrities Sylvester Stallone and Garry Shandling and New York Times reporter Bernard Weinraub. (Andrew Blankstein and Greg Krikorian, “Pellicano Indicted on Racketeering Charges”, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 6; Roger Friedman, “Cruise, Jacko Lawyer Safe for Now”, Feb. 6; AP/Hollywood Reporter).
The FBI originally got on Pellicano’s trial following a bizarre 2002 incident in which a dead fish, a rose and a note that said “stop” were left on the car window of Los Angeles Times reporter Anita Busch, who was working on a story about actor Steven Seagal at the time. What has sent nervous ripples through Hollywood’s legal community is that Pellicano has worked for many prominent entertainment-industry lawyers, and prosecutors are highly interested in finding out how much they knew about his alleged tactics.
Several veteran Los Angeles lawyers who specialize in defending white-collar crime suspects said they had been retained by other attorneys who are under scrutiny in the Pellicano case.
The lawyers all spoke on condition that they not be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation, including the possibility that some of their clients could be indicted.
Some of them said they thought it highly likely that attorneys would be indicted in the near future.
Asked how serious the government was about indicting certain attorneys, one defense lawyer said: “Beyond serious.”
Added the lawyer: “That dead fish led to a treasure trove of stuff.”
(Greg Krikorian, Henry Weinstein and Chuck Philips, “Private Eye May Be Tried Again”, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 3). More: Defamer; Luke Ford; Robert W. Welkos, “Lawyer to Celebrities Is Subject of Inquiry”, L.A. Times, Feb. 7 (many persons whose privacy was allegedly infringed were on the other side of lawsuits from celebrity lawyer Bertram Fields, Pellicano’s most prominent lawyer-client); Kellie Schmitt and Justin Scheck, “Hollywood PI Pleads Not Guilty to Racketeering”, The Recorder, Feb. 7.
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