In a twist to a wiretapping scandal captivating Hollywood, the private eye indicted for allegedly bugging celebrities and other high-profile targets has accused the federal government of spying on him in prison through a secret arrangement with his then-girlfriend.
Anthony Pellicano's attorney filed motions this week in federal court saying Sandra Wil Carradine provided FBI agents and prosecutors with a "fountain of information" after a series of jailhouse visits late last year, giving them insights into the lawyer's legal strategy and violating his attorney-client privilege.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday May 14, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 40 words Type of Material: Correction
Anthony Pellicano: An article in the April 27 California section about indicted private investigator Anthony Pellicano misidentified the location of the federal prison where he had been serving a sentence. The Taft Correctional Institute is in Taft, Calif., not Bakersfield.
As she met with Pellicano at the Taft Correctional Institute in Bakersfield, where Pellicano was finishing up a sentence for possession of explosives, the private detective did not know that Carradine had secretly begun cooperating with the government in July or that he had already been indicted in the wiretapping scandal, said Pellicano's attorney, Steven Gruel, in court documents. Both her cooperation and his indictment remained under seal until February.
"According to the indictment, the government alleges that Anthony Pellicano engaged in conduct for clients to gain an unfair advantage in litigation," Gruel said in an interview.
"My initial review of the legal and factual landscape suggest that is what the government did here," he said.
In motions filed to force the government to produce additional information in the case, Gruel says Carradine, the ex-wife of actor Keith Carradine, acted as a "go-between" between the lawyer and Pellicano in December when they were still negotiating the terms of Gruel's legal representation.
Gruel said Sandra Carradine solicited his "thoughts, opinions and general observations about the government's case."
In mid-December, Gruel says in the motions, Carradine told FBI Special Agent Stan Ornellas, the bureau's lead investigator in the case, that Pellicano was attempting to hire the attorney, making it "likely that the government knew of Mr. Pellicano's interest in my representation even before I did."
Carradine also told Ornellas of Pellicano's interest in calling a particular defense witness, enabling the FBI to contact the person before Pellicano's defense did, according to Gruel.
His motions also say information he has already received from the government as part of the legal discovery process shows that Carradine has given Ornellas "Mr. Pellicano's correspondence to several attorneys."
