AnthonyPellicano Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It's only been a few months since the infamous Hollywood wiretapper and 'Private Eye to the Stars' Anthony Pellicano was sentenced to 15 years in prison for wiretapping, racketeering and wire fraud -- but it wasn't just the shady P.I. who got himself into trouble with the Feds, and the AP has confirmed that action director (and former Pellicano client), John McTiernan (Die Hard) has been indicted on two counts of making false statements to federal agents and one count of perjury.

The trouble all started when McTiernan testified to Federal agents that he had employed Pellicano during a divorce case, but it was later revealed that McTiernan had actually hired Pellicano to do some snooping on film producer Charles Roven during McTiernan's remake of Rollerball. McTiernan originally had pleaded guilty back in 2006, but when faced with four months in prison, he later changed his mind and even fought his way to the Court of Appeals to be allowed to reverse his guilty plea.

But, in the end it looks like the change of heart didn't matter all that much now that Feds are gunning for the man anyway. McTiernan's lawyer has already gone into spin mode, telling reporters that: "The prosecutor has taken one count and tried to expand it into more charges in a new indictment. There seems to be retribution because John refused to play ball the way the prosecutors wanted and because we were successful on appeal."

But the question for film fans is: just where does that leave McTiernan's upcoming projects? The director already had three films in the pipeline before these charges were announced, and something tells me he won't be able to start work any time soon if he's stuck in a federal prison.

Stay tuned to Cinematical for updates...

Think back to a simpler time in America when the films of Steven Seagal were box office hits. Some of you young'uns might not be able to fathom such a thing, but it's true. What happened? Why is he now stuck doing direct-to-DVD films with titles like Belly of the Beast and Flight of Fury? Some would say it's because he's made so many genuinely awful movies, but Seagal claims the cause for his decline goes much higher up.

Yahoo is reporting on a Los Angeles Times story that finds Seagal blaming the Federal Bureau of Investigation for his career slump. The FBI investigated Seagal because of his ties to former private detective Anthony Pellicano. Many Hollywood types worked with Pellicano, who was investigated starting in 2002 and is now in federal prison awaiting trial on wire-tapping and other charges.

"False FBI accusations fueled thousands of articles saying that I terrorize journalists and associate with the Mafia," Seagal told the Los Angeles Times. "These kinds of inflammatory allegations scare studio heads and independent producers -- and kill careers." Seagal has never been charged or accused of being involved in the incident that led to Pellicano's arrest, and he is demanding that the FBI publicly clear his name.

A spokeswoman for the FBI wouldn't comment, "because of the ongoing nature of the investigation." The U.S. Attorney's Office won't talk either, as the office "does not comment on talks it has with attorneys representing defendants, investigation targets or witnesses." In the meantime, Seagal will continue to make movies, and he'll make his triumphant return to the director's chair with Prince of Pistols. It will be his first time directing since 1994's On Deadly Ground, which co-starred Michael Caine(!). Can you believe that at one time Michael Caine was taking acting guidance from Steven Seagal? If you want the full Seagal experience, don't hesitate to check out his albums, Songs from the Crystal Cave and Mojo Priest (which includes a song called "Talk to My Ass"). I'm not making this up.

Yesterday there emerged yet another wrinkle in what is rapidly becoming the most fascinating, demented legal mess to hit Hollywood in decades. (Seriously, this is better than OJ. Nobody's dead, and there are lots more interesting people involved.) As I outlined in February, PI-to-the-stars Anthony Pellicano is in serious doo doo. He's been charged with all sorts of sketchiness (the most scandalous involving wire-tapping of Hollywood personalities, sometimes accompanied by blackmail), and each day of the investigation brings more insanity to light.

The latest name to emerge from the murk is a big one: director John McTiernan (Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October, Predator), has been charged with lying to the FBI during his questioning about Pellicano. That's right, the FBI -- this isn't exactly the sort of thing that you can just sweep under the rug. According to court papers, McTiernan told investigators that he knew nothing about Pellicano's wiretapping habits, when in fact he "had hired and paid...Pellicano to conduct a wiretapping of Charles Roven [a producer on McTiernan's Rollerball], and...Pellicano had discussed with defendant McTiernan his interception of...Roven's telephone calls." Oh, you mean wiretapping wiretapping! My bad. I totally knew about that.

McTiernan is due in court later this month; more updates on the insanity as they come.

LAPD-cop-turned-private-detective Anthony Pellicano was once "the go-to detective for information needed by lawyers and agents representing entertainment A-listers." (If we were more plugged in to the LA scene, we'd probably know what agents hire PIs to dig up. As it is, it just sounds seedy.) Things, however, have changed: yesterday, Pellicano pled guilty to a 110-count indictment that charged him 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." Based on evidence collected over the course of a three year investigation by the federal government, the man was very, very busy.

Among other things, Pellicano and his associates would both tap the phones of stars (including Sylvester Stallone, who is now going to kick Pellicano's ass, Rocky-style) and, with the help of an LAPD insider, access "confidential police records" to get dirt on the famous, including Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon. Pellicano would then spring into action, "securing clients who were willing and able to pay large sums for the purpose of obtaining personal information of a confidential, embarrassing, or incriminating nature regarding other individuals." Basically, it was a huge network of scum, working together in a variety of ways.

Though the sentence has yet to be handed down, Pellicano - who is just finishing up an unrelated prison term (He was storing explosives in his office. Since when has that been a problem?!) - is not likely to go home any time soon.