SAN PEDRO, CA—Anthony Pellicano, 75, known as “Hollywood’s Fixer” was released from prison on Friday, March 22, after serving 15 years in Terminal Island Federal Correctional Institution in San Pedro, CA. Pellicano was released on his 75th birthday.
Pellicano was indicted on 110 accounts of wiretapping and conducting illegal background checks. Some of his clients included attorneys, executives, and A-list celebrities including actors Tom Cruise, Sylvester Stallone, and Roseanne Barr.
Officials indicated a non-refundable retainer fee of $25,000 was charged to spy, and violate privacy, including defamation on his clients behalf.
Officers from the Los Angeles Police Department and Beverly Hills Police Department were bribed in order to access confidential information Pellicano also used employees from phone companies to listen and tap the phones for specific victims on his list for exposure.
The FBI raided Pellicano’s office on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood on November 2002 after former Los Angeles Times journalist Anita Busch reported a dead fish with a rose and note in its mouth which stated, “Stop” on her car’s windshield. The note allegedly served as warning for Busch to refrain from publishing articles on one of Pellicano’s clients, Ovitz.
The FBI found practice grenades and C-4 explosives, but it was not enough evidence to arrestthe star who later served 30 months for possession of dangerous materials.
During a trail hearing in 2008, prosecutors noted, “On the contrary, the recordings seized from defendant’s computers reflect the utter enjoyment that he experienced as he invaded every facet of his investigative target’s lawfully protected privacy, speaking derisively about his victims and cackling about how he intended to destroy them.”
Some suspects connected to the Pellicano scandal were also convicted of crimes, including his girlfriend at the time, Sandra Will Carradine, “Die Hard” director John McTiernan, officer Craig Stevens of the BHPD, and LPAD Police Sergeant Mark Arneson.
