Entertainment

Jury Convicts Private Eye In Racketeering Case

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― 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 supporting cast in February 2006 had Hollywood buzzing with speculation about who might be ensnared in the investigation and what secrets might be revealed.

Fourteen people were charged and seven, including film director John McTiernan and former Hollywood Records president Robert Pfeifer, have pleaded guilty to charges including perjury and conspiracy.

The biggest power brokers with links to Pellicano, such as famed entertainment attorney Bert Fields, Paramount studio head Brad Grey and one-time superagent Michael Ovitz, insisted they didn't know about his methods and weren't charged.

Pellicano starred in the real-time court drama as a tough-talking gumshoe who valued loyalty and secrecy as necessary virtues in his profession. He also acted as his own attorney but called only one witness and rarely raised objections.

Pellicano's troubles began in 2002 when, prosecutors claim, he hired Alexander Proctor to threaten Anita Busch, a Los Angeles Times reporter working on a story about actor Steven Seagal and possible links to the Mafia.

Proctor allegedly placed a dead fish with a rose in its mouth on Busch's car, made a bullet-sized hole in the windshield, and left a sign with the word "stop."

Pellicano and Proctor are charged with conspiracy and making criminal threats. Proctor is serving a 10-year prison term in Illinois on unrelated drug charges.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)