The investigation of former Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano took a significant turn Tuesday with the disclosure that his onetime girlfriend and a veteran Beverly Hills police officer have pleaded guilty to lying about the detective's use of wiretaps and other illegal tactics.
The pleas by Officer Craig Stevens and Sandra Will Carradine, the ex-wife of actor Keith Carradine, offered the first confirmation in the 3-year-old federal investigation that authorities have evidence of Pellicano's long-suspected illegal use of wiretaps and confidential law enforcement records.
The documents also provide the first official link between the Pellicano case and the law firm of one of Los Angeles' most prominent entertainment attorneys, Bert Fields.
The documents state that Stevens, who resigned last Friday after 24 years on the Beverly Hills force, used police computers to gather information on an individual who was battling a client of Fields' firm, Greenberg, Glusker, Fields, Claman, Machtinger & Kinsella.
Fields could not be reached for comment. His attorney, John W. Keker, denied any illegal activity by his client.
"Bert Fields is completely innocent of any wrongdoing," Keker said. "And if there is any wrongdoing involving Anthony Pellicano, he didn't have anything to do with it and certainly didn't benefit from it. And neither did anyone at Greenberg Glusker."
The firm has acknowledged that Pellicano worked on a number of its cases. On Tuesday its attorney Brian Sun said: "Neither the firm nor any of its attorneys who worked on the [Stevens] case were aware of these illegal acts or would condone such conduct if they had been aware of it."
Carradine's and Stevens' plea agreements with the government are under seal, but the deals are expected to be followed by criminal charges against other individuals -- perhaps including Pellicano -- by month's end, according to sources close to the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing inquiry.
Pellicano, who is in federal prison on a separate weapons conviction, could not be reached for comment. His attorneys in that case declined to comment. The FBI also declined to comment, and federal prosecutor Daniel A. Saunders made only a brief remark about the pleas.
"Both police corruption and perjury are serious crimes that threaten the integrity of our entire system of law enforcement," Saunders said. "Neither will be tolerated in this office's pursuit of justice."
