Imprisoned ex-Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano was re-sentenced Monday to 15 years behind bars after a federal appeals court tossed his computer fraud convictions.
During a brief hearing, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer granted the prosecution’s request to re-impose the 180-month term after finding that the appeals panel left intact all of the fundamental sentencing considerations that served as the basis for the original prison sentence.
Pellicano, who appeared by way of video conferencing, indicated he would not appeal the sentence. His release date is listed as March 2019.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco two years ago upheld Pellicano’s 2008 racketeering convictions but vacated guilty verdicts for aiding and abetting computer fraud and unauthorized computer access counts, based on what the panel found to be faulty jury instructions.
As a result, the appeals court vacated Pellicano’s 15-year sentence and ordered the case back to Fischer in Los Angeles federal court for re- sentencing.
Pellicano, 73, is serving his sentence in the low-security federal penitentiary on Terminal Island for his convictions, in two trials, on 78 felony racketeering, conspiracy and wiretapping counts for bugging the telephones of celebrities, attorneys and executives.
Five other defendants were convicted of multiple offenses stemming from what the appeals court described as a “widespread criminal enterprise offering illegal private investigation services in Southern California.”
The panel also overturned computer fraud convictions for Mark Arneson, a former Los Angeles police officer who Pellicano bribed for confidential information, and for phone technician Rayford Turner.
But the court affirmed the wiretapping convictions and three-year sentence of former entertainment lawyer Terry Christensen.
Operating out of an office on the Sunset Strip, Pellicano was hired for decades by some of Hollywood’s wealthiest deal-makers to dig up dirt on their own or clients’ enemies.
As detailed in the first trial, Pellicano’s clients included Hollywood power brokers such as entertainment lawyer Bert Fields, Paramount Pictures chief Brad Grey, producer-financier Steve Bing, entertainment czar Ron Meyer, talent agent Michael Ovitz, Madonna manager Freddy DeMann and comedian Chris Rock.
The list of those targeted includes some well-known names: Sylvester Stallone, Garry Shandling, Kevin Nealon, Keith Carradine and the late producer Aaron Russo.
A raft of civil lawsuits against Pellicano and the companies and agencies he corrupted have made their way their way through the courts over the past nine years.
—City News Service