Director John McTiernan Prepares to Appeal Sentence

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Die Hard" director John McTiernan was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $100,000 on Monday for lying during the wiretapping investigation of Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano and about his involvement in the wiretapping of producer Charles Roven. U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer gave a stinging rebuke from the bench before sentencing McTiernan, saying "the defendant doesn't feel the law applies to him."

McTiernan declined the opportunity to address the court or speak with reporters outside the courtroom, but free pending an appeal, he spoke to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Hollywood Reporter: You were given the opportunity to speak before sentencing, but you chose not to. Why?

John McTiernan: My lawyers said that if I said one thing that's really on my mind, than they could guarantee that I was going to prison right now. I was all prepared. They spent basically 36 hours pleading with me. (I was told,) "You'll feel good for about five minutes, and then you'll curse yourself for a long time afterwards."

THR: What would you have said?

McTiernan: I'm not saying anything. There wasn't any point in saying anything in that venue; that venue wasn't listening.

THR: There were pointed comments from the bench about not eating "aged cheese and fine wine" in prison. Where did that come from?

McTiernan: (Judge Fischer) was trying to ridicule me. I take a very heavy-duty antidepressant; I've lived on it for 35 years, and it has heavy dietary restrictions. And what they did was take the silliest of them and put them in. It was some ridicule the prosecution had put in their papers, and she just repeated it over.

THR: You'll be appealing?

McTiernan: We're already filing the papers. I've already paid the appeals lawyer.

THR: Are you optimistic that you will not serve the sentence?

McTiernan: I didn't start this because I was afraid to go to jail. It would have been much easier to go to jail. And less expensive. And some of the minimum-security prison camps are not bad, and there are actually interesting people there. And I have managed to live my life not being too afraid of new experiences, including going off to a federal prison for four months. That isn't why I started this fight. I started because these people have less respect for the law than they accuse me of having.

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

"Investigator to the Stars" Convicted in Wiretapping

Anthony Pellicano, a private investigator who once worked for Hollywood stars, and a prominent lawyer, Terry N. Christensen, were convicted Friday in the wiretapping of the ex-wife of the investor Kirk Kerkorian in a child-support case.

Both Mr. Christensen and Mr. Pellicano, 65, were convicted of conspiracy to commit wiretapping in Federal District Court here. Mr. Christensen was also convicted of aiding and abetting a wiretap; Mr. Pellicano was also convicted of wiretapping.

The conclusion of the six-week trial before Federal District Judge Dale S. Fischer opens the door for a number of civil suits against the two men as well as several others in the case. The suits, which were delayed during the criminal proceedings, largely involve victims of wiretapping seeking damages for incidents in which private conversations were recorded.

How Lawyers Work with Private Eyes

In one of their first phone calls, the lawyer and his private investigator outlined in no uncertain terms one ground rule: Their discussions were to be strictly confidential.

"The conversations are just between you and I," the private eye tells the attorney.

"Right," the attorney says.

"Period," the private eye adds.

In the end, however, their conversations were anything but confidential. That phone call and dozens of other recordings were played in federal court in Los Angeles this month, where the attorney, Terry Christensen, and the private detective, Anthony Pellicano, are on trial for allegedly conspiring to wiretap the former wife of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian.

Because Pellicano was a well-known sleuth-to-the-stars, with clients such as comedian Chris Rock and actor Tom Cruise, his legal troubles have generated interest in Hollywood circles. But his current trial is also being closely followed by Los Angeles' legal community because it thrusts into the limelight a type of relationship the public rarely sees: that of a lawyer and his private investigator.

Pellicano Calls Himself 'a Lone Ranger'

Anthony Pellicano was "technically a lone ranger" who went to great lengths as a private investigator to keep the information he gathered secret from everybody, including associates and lawyers.

And that information would have remained secret had the government not searched and seized computers from Pellicano's Sunset Boulevard office in 2002, the former gumshoe told a federal jury during closing arguments.

Trial Begins for Hollywood Private Investigator

Jury selection began Wednesday for the federal trial of private investigator Anthony Pellicano and four co-defendants, charged in a wiretapping case that prosecutors said targeted Hollywood celebrities and others.

Pellicano, 63, is accused of running a criminal enterprise that wiretapped phones and bribed police and telephone workers to get confidential information that could be used to gain an advantage in divorce, business and other cases.

Hollywood Investigator to Be His Own Lawyer

A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Anthony Pellicano, the Hollywood private investigator facing trial on wiretapping and conspiracy charges, can represent himself at trial next month. Judge Dale S. Fischer of United States District Court said she was bound by Supreme Court case law to let Mr. Pellicano do so, but urged him to reconsider. The ruling raises the prospect that Mr. Pellicano, who often grabbed the limelight in his career as an investigator to the stars, would again take center stage at his trial, set to begin Feb. 27.

Charge Girlfriend Spied on Private Eye

Former Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano is seeking dismissal of charges against him in a wiretapping case on grounds of government misconduct.

Defense attorneys charge an FBI agent and federal prosecutors repeatedly violated Pellicano's rights by using his girlfriend to secretly gather evidence against him, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

Filmmaker Seeks to Withdraw Guilty Plea

Almost 17 months after he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about hiring indicted Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano, film director John McTiernan on Monday sought to withdraw his plea on grounds that the government's case relied on inadmissible evidence.

The surprise move surfaced during the scheduled sentencing of the 56-year-old director, whose film credits include "Die Hard" and "Predator."

His effort dovetails with attempts by Pellicano and his co-defendants to derail the government's wiretapping and conspiracy case by attacking the tactics and credibility of its five-year investigation.