Fergie's Tech Blog

Thug Life: Anthony Pellicano Trial Reveals His Ways And Means

Andrew Murr writes on Newsweek.com:

With an office on Sunset Boulevard and a well-advertised baseball bat in his trunk, Anthony Pellicano honed a reputation as the gumshoe to the Hollywood stars. Over 20 years, the private eye cultivated a client list that ranged from Tinseltown A-listers like one-time superagent Mike Ovitz and actor Chris Rock to top divorce attorneys and business tycoons. He burnished an image as a high-tech audio surveillance whiz with an edge that was part Sicilian menace, part confidential servant to the showbiz elite.

But his federal trial on wiretapping, bribery and conspiracy charges, which opened earlier this month, is putting a major dent in that carefully nurtured image. The trial is exposing methods of intimidation more reminiscent of skid row than the silver screen—ranging from telephone threats to amateurish harassment of adversaries on the streets. His behavior with some clients seems equally bad, looking less like gallant Philip Marlowe and more like a grifter with money problems, willing to leech off vulnerable clients, such as a divorcing woman who forked over nearly $1 million to him, including her diamond-and-pearl earrings.

posted by Fergie @ 3/21/2008 06:02:00 PM