Former Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano will spend the next 15 years in prison after being convicted of running a wiretapping enterprise that spied on the rich and famous, according to media reports Tuesday.
The private investigator was convicted of a combined 78 counts, including wiretapping, racketeering and wire fraud, in two separate trials earlier this year.
He must serve 85 percent of his sentence, making him eligible for release when he is about to turn 77, the prosecutors said.
In addition to the two-month trial in May involving the Hollywood figures, Pellicano, 64, also was convicted in August for wiretapping billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's former wife Lisa Bonder Kerkorian.
The sentencing also requires Pellicano and two other defendants to pay a fine of 2 million U.S. dollars.
Pellicano showed no emotion when the sentence was read. "I have taken full and complete responsibility for all my actions," he said.
The two-year wiretapping prosecution began when an entertainment journalist, Anita M. Busch, was threatened in June 2002 by an associate of the private investigator after she wrote a series of negative articles about Michael S. Ovitz, a Pellicano client.
Pellicano's victims were given the chance to make one final statement before the sentencing.
"You have yet to take responsibility for your actions," said Busch to Pellicano. She played a key role in bringing Pellicano to trial.
"You and your employers not only used fear and intimidation... And you and your clients used any means at your disposal to destroy people's employmen..." she said.
(Xinhua/Agencies December 16, 2008)
