February 07, 2006 (original story...)
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Hollywood sleuth Anthony Pellicano was charged Monday with wiretapping and conspiracy for allegedly leading a scheme to bug the phones of more than a dozen people, including actors Sylvester Stallone and Keith Carradine.
The 110-count indictment against Pellicano, three associates and three former clients also alleges racketeering and wire fraud for the illegal access of dozens of people's criminal and driving records.
What remains unanswered is whether the lawyers who hired the Pellicano Investigative Agency were aware of the wiretapping and other tricks that, prosecutors allege, gave them a tactical advantage in court. Authorities now hope the threat of long prison terms will persuade the defendants to speak -- even if Pellicano maintains his silence.
"We'll do the investigation and see what the facts show," acting U.S. Attorney George Cardona said in announcing the case at the agency's Los Angeles offices. "These charges allege a disturbing pattern of criminal conduct in which money flowed freely to sworn law enforcement officers to violate their oath and uphold the law to provide the means for Pellicano and his associates to violate the rights of others."
One law firm, Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman Machtinger & Kinsella, acknowledged Monday that attorney Bert Fields and others used Pellicano on at least two of the cases referenced in the indictment, adding that "if Mr. Pellicano engaged in any illegal activity, he did so without their or the firm's knowledge or authorization."
Other law firms that used Pellicano declined comment or could not be reached.
Greenberg Glusker's cases included disputes in which producers Aaron Russo and, separately, Bo Zenga allegedly were subjected to wiretapping. Zenga unsuccessfully sued Fields' client Brad Grey, now chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures, over producing credits and fees on the feature film "Scary Movie."
Prosecutors said they have evidence that at least 15 people -- including Stallone, Carradine, Herbalife co-founder Mark Hughes, journalist Anita Busch and screenwriter James Orr -- also had their lines tapped and recorded by computers secretly installed in roadside switch boxes and phone company facilities.
Pellicano's attorney, Steven Gruel, could not be reached for comment.
Pellicano has steadfastly refused to cooperate with authorities, making it all the more difficult for the FBI and prosecutors to prove that he was instructed to target certain individuals.
Experts say it is not against the law to associate with criminals or unknowingly use information that was gathered illegally.
"If you know there's criminal activity, you can't pretend you don't know," former federal prosecutor and Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levinson said. "But if they went to Pellicano and said, 'We need this information and don't particularly need to know the details of how you get it,' they may not be the best citizens, but that doesn't make them criminally liable."
The indictment alleges two broad schemes.
One, that Pellicano used Beverly Hills Police Department officer Craig Stevens and former Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Mark Arneson to illegally access dozens of people's records from the National Crime Information Center and California Department of Motor Vehicles.
Pellicano also is accused of paying Kevin Kachikian of Fountain Valley, Calif., to write software for computers that would, with the help of SBC and Pac Bell field technician Rayford Turner, secretly record telephone conversations.
Pellicano, Arneson and Turner were accused in the racketeering case, while Pellicano and Turner also were charged with wiretapping along with Kachikian and three Pellicano clients. The latter include former Hollywood Records president Robert Pfeifer, who is suspected of hiring Pellicano to wiretap a former girlfriend and has been charged with witness tampering for trying to prevent her from speaking to authorities.
The two RICO (Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) charges filed against Pellicano, Arneson and Turner each carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. Pellicano also is charged, along with Arneson, with 31 counts of wire fraud and five counts each of identity theft and computer fraud.
Prosecutors also are seeking the forfeiture of at least $1.9 million that Pellicano, Arneson and Turner collected as a result of the alleged "criminal enterprise."
Pellicano pleaded not guilty Monday to all charges in U.S. District Court and was ordered held without bond. He was arrested on suspicion of these charges Friday, a day before he was set to complete a 30-month prison term for the explosives and weapons found in his office four years ago.
Pellicano's offices were raided during an investigation of threats to Busch, a former editor of The Hollywood Reporter who was working at the time as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times. While Pellicano and Anthony Proctor face state charges for the alleged threat, federal authorities and a grand jury spent three years studying the alleged wiretapping equipment and records also found at Pellicano's Sunset Strip offices.
In addition to Pfeifer, authorities believe they can prove that three other Pellicano clients used the wiretapping. Two were indicted Monday on one count each of wiretapping: Abner Nicherie of Las Vegas allegedly had a business dispute with a man who was wiretapped, while his brother, Daniel Nicherie of Las Vegas, is in custody on charges of defrauding someone who Pellicano had wiretapped.
Another former client, Sandra Carradine, the ex-wife of Keith Carradine, already has pleaded guilty to perjury for lying to a grand jury about having Pellicano wiretap her ex-husband's telephone during their divorce. It is expected that she will testify for the prosecution.
Stevens, the Beverly Hills officer, has separately pleaded guilty to accessing confidential law enforcement databases for Pellicano. He faces up to 35 years in prison when sentenced October 16 and also is expected to help prosecutors.
According to the indictment, the wiretapping scheme dates back to 1995, when Kachikian started to write the "Telesleuth" software that later allowed Pellicano, with Turner's assistance inside the phone company, to eavesdrop on calls.
Turner allegedly was paid at least $36,655 for access to proprietary telephone company information that allowed the wiretapping.
At the same time, it is alleged that Pellicano paid Stevens and Arneson to pull information from the confidential databases.
Arneson, who retired from the LAPD in 2003, allegedly was paid at least $192,365 to retrieve records of 63 people including comedian Kevin Nealon; security expert Gavin de Becker; Keith Carradine and his girlfriend, actress Hayley DuMond; Busch; former New York Times reporter Bernard Weinraub; and both Zenga's attorney, Gregory Dovel, and his wife, former Hollywood Reporter film reporter Zorianna Kit. Others include victims of so-called "Limousine Rapist" John Gordon Jones, who was acquitted in 2001 of drugging and raping women he met at Hollywood nightclubs.
Arneson and Pellicano also are charged with identity theft for allegedly using the identities of Creative Artists Agency managing partners Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane and 11 others to commit crimes. CAA officials declined comment Monday.
