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Reaching for the first time into the upper ranks of Hollywood's legal establishment, the federal grand jury investigating private eye Anthony Pellicano indicted prominent Los Angeles entertainment attorney Terry N. Christensen on Wednesday for allegedly having the ex-wife of billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian wiretapped. Christensen paid Pellicano $100,000 to listen in on Lisa Bonder Kerkorian's phone calls to her attorneys and to share the information with Christensen, Kerkorian's longtime lawyer and business partner, to give him a tactical edge in a bitter child support case in 2002, the grand jury alleged. (snip) Christensen, best known as lawyer for Kerkorian, one...

Los Angeles -- Five clients and associates of Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges related to a sweeping allegations of a conspiracy of wiretapping and digging up dirt on people, including celebrities. Mark Arneson, a retired Los Angeles police sergeant, was the first to enter his plea. Federal prosecutors allege Arneson used his access to law enforcement databases to search names for "confidential, embarrassing or incriminating" information, receiving at least $189,000 from Pellicano.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Attorneys for a former Los Angeles Times reporter who was threatened while researching a story on an alleged Hollywood extortion plot have subpoenaed agent Michael Ovitz to give a sworn deposition in a civil lawsuit. The lawsuit filed in June 2004 in Los Angeles Superior Court alleges Pellicano and others, including former Los Angeles police Sgt. Mark Arneson, directed and led threats and attacks against Busch. Busch was researching a possible link between actor Steven Seagal and a reputed Mafia associate in June 2002 when she found her car's windshield punctured by an apparent bullet hole....

LOS ANGELES (AP) - For more than two decades, if there was a scandal to be snuffed out in Hollywood, private investigator Anthony Pellicano was considered the man for the job. In 1983, his analysis of audio tapes and other evidence undermined testimony from witnesses and helped earn auto maker John DeLorean an acquittal in a cocaine trafficking case. Ten years later, he worked for pop superstar Michael Jackson in his first fight against child molestation allegations. Actor Sylvester Stallone once called the detective a "very good friend." Through his celebrity connections, Pellicano eventually became a star in his own...

Los Angeles -- A federal magistrate judge said a former president of Hollywood Records was a flight risk and ordered him held without bail in a wiretapping case involving Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano. Prosecutors on Tuesday presented e-mails allegedly written by Robert Pfeifer in which he told a friend that he would either flee or kill himself instead of possibly serving time in jail. "I will know before I get served an indictment. And you know I am not sticking around for that," Pfeifer allegedly wrote in a Nov. 13, 2003, message to his friend Rosemary Carroll. "I would...

MIDI - THAT'S AMORE (fairly long intro) hired him to shut up Bill's women, Pellicano Were there threats, oh, you bet...'cause you should never test Pellicano He would break Sally Perdue's legs even if she begged Only fools don't believe it If you had Clinton evidence he would hop your fence He'd go in and retrieve it hired him to shut up Bill's women, Pellicano When you mess with the Clintons, there is not a rule that applies If you're posing a threat, you'll be facing him mano a ma-ano He had worked for the mob and did 's job,...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood's most famous private investigator, Anthony Pellicano, was charged with wiretapping journalists, entertainers and alleged rape victims for his clients in an indictment unsealed on Monday. Among those who were allegedly wiretapped or subjected to illegal computer searches were comedian "Rocky" actor Sylvester Stallone, Garry Shandling, former New York Times film industry correspondent Bernard Weinraub, former Los Angeles Times reporter Anita Busch, five women who accused software millionaire John Gordon Jones of rape, Saturday Night Live comedian Kevin Nealon and actor Keith Carradine. Pellicano, whose clients have included top Hollywood entertainment lawyers and executives as well...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Celebrity private eye Anthony Pellicano pleaded not guilty Monday to racketeering charges contained in an indictment alleging he paid police officers and others to access confidential records and provide him with information. The indictment was unsealed but not immediately released. Attorney Steven Gruel, who represents Pellicano, said the indictment detailed 105 counts against his client. In addition to racketeering, he was charged with unauthorized computer access, interception of wire communications and possession of a wiretapping device, the lawyer said. Gruel declined further comment on the charges. He briefly made a copy of the indictment available to...

Tom Cruise and Michael Jackson, two very private show business names regularly in the news, have someone in common who could cause a lot of trouble for them: Anthony Pellicano. The infamous private eye who just finished a stretch in prison on Friday stemming from an incident in which he threatened the life of a reporter will be arraigned today at 2 p.m. PT on a variety of charges still unknown. But what could come out when Pelicano’s indictment is unsealed in federal court might very well include embarrassing anecdotes about this pair and many other really famous people for...

A former member of President Clinton's "Shadow Team," a private investigator known for dirty tricks and rough tactics on behalf of celebrity clients, will face unspecified charges tomorrow in a high-profile Hollywood scandal. Anthony Pellicano, 61, worked for many of Hollywood's elite before and after being commissioned by Hillary Clinton during her husband's administration to spy on their perceived "enemies." His celebrity clients have included Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Sylvester Stallone. Pellicano was released Friday from a federal prison after completing a 2 1/2-year sentence for possessing illegal weapons. He was transferred to San Bernardino County Jail, which is...

former member of President Clinton's "Shadow Team," a private investigator known for dirty tricks and rough tactics on behalf of celebrity clients, will face unspecified charges tomorrow in a high-profile Hollywood scandal. Anthony Pellicano, 61, worked for many of Hollywood's elite before and after being commissioned by Hillary Clinton during her husband's administration to spy on their perceived "enemies." snip During two terms of the Clinton administration, Pellicano was one of several private investigators used by the White House to conduct "shadow" operations. Others included Terry Lenzner, founder and chairman of the powerful Washington detective firm Investigative Group International, and...

LOS ANGELES - Hollywood loves a good scandal - cheating spouses, sex tapes, drug addictions. The industry's obsessive rumor mill has churned over the past few months in anticipation of the outcome of a three-year FBI investigation into suspected illegal wiretapping by celebrity private investigator Anthony Pellicano. Answers could finally be revealed Monday when the 61-year-old shamus is expected to be arraigned on unspecified federal charges. "Everybody wonders who is going to take the fall," said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School and a former federal prosecutor. "He's like (Jack) Abramoff. You just hope you didn't get your...

In the latest chapter of a still-unfolding investigation, FBI agents have quietly arrested a former music industry executive in connection with the wiretap and conspiracy prosecution of former Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano. Robert Joseph Pfeifer, 50, once president of Disney-owned Hollywood Records, was taken into custody Friday afternoon and held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles, sources close to the investigation said Saturday. The sources added that more people could be charged by Monday, when authorities are expected to unseal a federal indictment against Pellicano and others. -snip- Also filed in the custody case was a...

HILLARY'S SECRET WAR The Shadow Team Posted: July 12, 20051:00 a.m. Eastern Editor's note: The following is an eye-opening look into New York Times best-selling author Richard Poe's revealing book, "Hillary's Secret War." Whereas Edward Klein's book on the New York senator reveals previously unknown aspects of her personal life, Poe's expose focuses on how Hillary Clinton and the left's "shadow government" have labored to put her and her far-left agenda in the White House by controlling the still-uncensored flow of real news to Americans – via the Internet.If that sounds too fantastic to be true, read on. By Richard...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Private eye to the stars Anthony Pellicano, freed from prison on Friday after serving 2 1/2 years for firearms offenses, was immediately arrested again in a federal wiretap investigation closely watched in Hollywood. The charges were contained in sealed court documents that will be made public when Pellicano, 61, is arraigned on Monday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, said Inspector Jimell Griffin, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service. The former private detective whose clients have included Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Michael Jackson, has been quoted as vowing never to betray his high-profile...

Former private investigator Anthony Pellicano will be returned to Los Angeles from a federal prison near Bakersfield as early as today to face new charges that he and others illegally used wiretaps and confidential law enforcement records to help his clients, sources said Thursday. The transfer of Pellicano to local federal custody comes as authorities prepare for the release of grand jury indictments resulting from more than three years of investigation by the FBI, said the sources, who refused to be identified because of the continuing criminal probe. The indictments could be announced as soon as Monday, they said.

LOS ANGELES – After months of behind-the-scenes maneuvering, a federal probe into the alleged illegal wiretapping activities of private investigator to the stars Anthony Pellicano appears to be ready for its close-up. Prosecutors revealed recently that Pellicano's former girlfriend and a veteran police officer pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the investigation. The girlfriend, Sandra Will Carradine, 58 – once married to actor Keith Carradine – pleaded guilty to a perjury count for lying to a grand jury about whether she knew about Pellicano tapping her former husband's phone. Former Beverly Hills police Officer Craig Stevens, 45, of Oak...

There are probably two private detectives who are considered the leading private eyes for the stars: Former NYPD detective Bo Dietl on the east coast, and Anthony Pellicano on the west coast. Of the two only one -- Tony Pellicano -- is the subject of an ongoing federal investigation into illegal wiretapping by a high-profile private detective in Hollywood known as The Pelican. Two witnesses -- his ex-girlfriend, and the other police officer -- on Tuesday pleaded guilty to having lied to a grand jury about the detective's use of wiretaps and other illegal tactics. These pleas, one coming from...

Pellicano is already in prison on federal charges of possessing explosives and grenades at his office, although he is due to be released on parole next month. So far, the federal government has filed no new charges against him, but federal investigators aren't finished with their widening probe. The Pelican was also suspected of being retained by the Clintons as part of their network of goons who harassed women who were considered a political liability for Bill Clinton while he was president. The well-paid private eye may have been involved in the Clintons' clandestine activities such as digging up dirt...

A top Los Angeles private detective who helped Hillary Clinton quash her husband's "bimbo eruptions" in 1992 has been charged with making criminal threats and with conspiracy to commit a crime. Prosecutors say that Anthony Pellicano - know as the "Private Eye to the Stars" - hired a second man to threaten Los Angeles Times reporter Anita Busch, and to "cause her to fear for her life." Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley announced the charges against Pellicano last Friday, in a complaint that alleges that the private detective's co-conspirator threatened Busch "by placing a dead fish with a...