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LOS ANGELES - A Hollywood private investigator was convicted Thursday on charges that he schemed to dig up dirt for his well-heeled clients to use in lawsuits, divorces and contract disputes against the rich and famous. Anthony Pellicano, 64, was accused of wiretapping stars such as Sylvester Stallone, and running the names of others, such as Gary Shandling and Kevin Nealon, through law enforcement databases to help clients in legal and other disputes. Pellicano was convicted of racketeering and racketeering conspiracy counts. Verdicts on dozens of other counts were still being announced in court. The indictment charging Pellicano and his...

A hedge fund manager testified Tuesday that indicted private eye Anthony Pellicano suggested that a film producer and one-time Nevada gubernatorial candidate could be murdered over an investment dispute. Adam Sender told jurors the idea came while he and Pellicano met and talked about Sender's lawsuit against Aaron Russo. Sender said he was told by Pellicano, "If I wanted to I could authorize him to have (Russo) murdered on the way back from Las Vegas, have someone follow him back, drive him off the road and bury his body somewhere in the desert." Sender said he did not approve of...

Former Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano, who is awaiting a federal trial on wiretapping and racketeering charges, has been sued by executors for the estate of the late Herbalife International founder Mark Hughes. The federal lawsuit claims that Pellicano wiretapped the executive on behalf of his former wife, Suzan Hughes, while the couple was going through a divorce. The complaint alleges that Suzan Hughes used information from Pellicano's alleged wiretaps to negotiate a "highly advantageous" divorce settlement in march 1998. Hughes, who built Herbalife into a billion-dollar nutritional supplement business, died in 2000 from a drug and alcohol overdose. Besides...

Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano can trade his trench coat for legal briefs after a federal judge granted him permission Friday to act as his own lawyer in his wiretapping and racketeering trial. Pellicano must "follow all the same rules as lawyers," U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer said. "And I will not help you. You will not receive special treatment from me at all." No reason was given in court to explain why Pellicano wanted to dismiss his current attorney, Steven Gruel. Pellicano, 62, has maintained he is broke, but Gruel said he offered to work on the case for...

Until now the Pellicano wiretapping case has seemed the kind of down-and-dirty imbroglio that could only happen in Hollywood, where a private eye's underworld patois could impress movie people familiar with noir clichés, allured by real physical danger and accustomed to getting whatever they want. But confidential F.B.I. records show that the scandal's tentacles have extended beyond show-business figures to reach people prominent in the rarified worlds of fine art and classical music. Among the government's most important witnesses, the F.B.I. records suggest, are Adam D. Sender, a prominent collector of contemporary art and a wealthy hedge-fund manager..........hired Anthony Pellicano,...

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 (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...

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...