April 18, 2006
McTiernan guilty in Pellicano case
Plea deal for lying about wiretaps
By Jesse Hiestand
Director John McTiernan pleaded guilty Monday to lying to the FBI about
having investigator Anthony Pellicano wiretap producer Charles Roven.
McTiernan's admission before U.S. District Court Judge Dale Fischer in
Los Angeles makes him the sixth person -- of the 14 charged to date --
to plead guilty in the widening scandal. McTiernan also is the
highest-profile defendant to emerge in this case thus far.
McTiernan, who has directed such features as "Die Hard" and "The Hunt
for Red October," pleaded guilty after reaching a plea deal with
prosecutors, terms of which were kept under seal. McTiernan was allowed
to remain free on bond until his July 31 sentence, at which he faces up
to five years in federal prison.
The plea deal, coming on the day McTiernan was scheduled to be
arraigned, did not shed any light on why McTiernan targeted Roven. The
most obvious link between the two men remains their collaboration on
the 2002 feature "Rollerball," which McTiernan directed and produced
and Roven produced.
In pleading guilty, McTiernan acknowledged that he asked Pellicano to
wiretap Roven in the summer of 2000: "I spoke with him about it. I
never received a report. ... After approximately two weeks, I paid him
off and fired him," McTiernan told the court.
McTiernan was charged April 3 with making a false statement to federal
agents. In the Feb. 13 interview with an FBI agent, McTiernan denied
knowing about or discussing any wiretapping by Pellicano, prosecutors
said.
Roven has produced such films as "The Brothers Grimm," "Batman Begins,"
"Three Kings" and "Twelve Monkeys." His upcoming projects include a
sequel to "Batman Begins" and "Get Smart."
Pellicano, who maintains his innocence, has been charged in a 112-count
indictment with orchestrating a scheme to wiretap or illegally
investigate people on behalf of clients. According to prosecutors,
Sylvester Stallone and Keith Carradine were among those wiretapped,
while Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon were subjected to unauthorized
background checks by police officers who had been bribed by Pellicano.
Prosecutors have indicated that they expect to file more indictments soon.
Separately on Monday, one of the alleged wiretap victims, Lisa Bonder
Kerkorian, filed a civil lawsuit against Pellicano and SBC
Telecommunications for negligence, invasion of privacy and other claims.
Bonder Kerkorian, the ex-wife of billionaire and former MGM owner Kirk
Kerkorian, allegedly was wiretapped by Pellicano at the request of
prominent Hollywood attorney Terry Christensen.
Christensen was indicted in February on two counts of paying Pellicano
at least $100,000 to illegally eavesdrop on Bonder Kerkorian's
conversations with her attorney, a court mediator and others to gain an
advantage in a legal dispute.
Bonder Kerkorian's filing in Los Angeles Superior Court alleged that
she was subjected to the wiretapping between March 15-May 16, 2002. She
accused unnamed telephone company employees of helping Pellicano to
conduct the wiretaps.
Bonder Kerkorian claims that the wiretapping was undertaken to learn
her legal "plans, strategies, perceived strengths and weaknesses,
settlement position and other highly confidential information."
Christensen has denied using Pellicano for illegal purposes.
Other alleged victims also have sued Pellicano for invasion of privacy
and other civil claims. They include Carradine and fiancee Hayley
DuMond, who sued Pellicano, Carradine's ex-wife Sandra Carradine and
SBC last month for the wiretap that allegedly was put on their
telephone during a divorce case (HR 3/27).
Reuters contributed to this report.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002345595