Hollywood PI Pellicano gets 15 years

Anthony Pellicano, Hollywood’s so-called 'private eye to the stars', who once said he could bend the law to get his famous clients out of trouble, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for racketeering and wire-tapping. His most high-profile victim was Sylvester Stallone, though most of the attention at his two-month trial earlier this year was focused on the galaxy of film actors, agents and studio chiefs who had employed his services, many of whom gave evidence.

Pellicano was a former FBI agent who delighted in playing up to the fictional image of a 'private dick' - wearing mirror shades, patent leather shoes and double-breasted suits and reveling in his nickname, The Big Sleazy.

The case against him and his four co-defendants was that they broke the law – by accessing telephone company records and police files, and intimidating witnesses - in order to dig the dirt on wives, lovers, business partners and rivals to help the rich and famous "discredit and in some cases destroy" their adversaries in a series of divorce cases and child custody battles.

During the trial, prosecutors revealed that Pellicano charged clients a non-refundable retainer fee that started at $25,000. However, he came unstuck when he tried to warn off a Los Angeles Times reporter from writing any damaging stories about one of his clients, the former head of Disney, Mike Ovitz. Pellicano placed a dead fish with a rose in its mouth on the reporter’s car, along with a sign reading "stop". ·