Former private investigator Anthony Pellicano will be returned to Los Angeles from a federal prison near Bakersfield as early as today to face new charges that he and others illegally used wiretaps and confidential law enforcement records to help his clients, sources said Thursday.
The transfer of Pellicano to local federal custody comes as authorities prepare for the release of grand jury indictments resulting from more than three years of investigation by the FBI, said the sources, who refused to be identified because of the continuing criminal probe. The indictments could be announced as soon as Monday, they said.
The investigation, though focused on the flamboyant private eye, has rocked Los Angeles' legal and entertainment communities because Pellicano for years had worked on behalf of some of the biggest names in both fields.
In recent weeks, according to sources, authorities have zeroed in on a handful of Pellicano clients and associates as potential accomplices in his long-suspected use of illegal tactics. Those people include former Los Angeles Police Sgt. Mark Arneson and Ray Turner, a former Pacific Bell employee, said the sources, who did not rule out the possibility that others also would be charged in the case.
Attorneys advising Arneson and Turner declined to comment Thursday.
Pellicano could not be reached for comment. The 61-year-old private investigator has been serving a 30-month sentence at the Taft Correctional Institution after pleading guilty to federal charges of storing hand grenades and plastic explosives in his Sunset Strip offices.
His former legal team in the explosives case had no comment on the possibility that he would face new charges.
The investigation, directed by the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, began in November 2002 when FBI agents raided Pellicano's offices for evidence that he had been involved in a threat against a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, Anita Busch. A dead fish, a rose and a sign reading "Stop" had been placed on the windshield of her car. Pellicano still faces state charges in connection with that case.
During the 2002 raid, and one that followed two months later, records and interviews show, the FBI hauled away voluminous computerized records containing alleged evidence of wiretaps and other illegal acts. The evidence provided a road map for investigators who pored over countless pages of documents and conducted hundreds of interviews with clients and potential victims of Pellicano.
