Federal prosecutors alleged Monday that Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano recently conspired with known mobsters in Chicago to put a prison "hit" on the man he allegedly hired to threaten a Los Angeles Times reporter.
The hit, according to court papers, was allegedly aimed at Alexander Proctor, an ex-convict who was arrested for placing a dead fish with a rose in its mouth and a sign that said "Stop" on the windshield of reporter Anita Busch's car in the summer of 2002.
When an FBI informant later surfaced with Proctor on tape boasting that he was working for Pellicano, federal authorities used the recording to obtain a warrant to search Pellicano's Sunset Boulevard office in November 2002. That search triggered the ongoing racketeering and wiretapping probe that has much of Hollywood in its thrall.
So far, Pellicano and six others, including Hollywood lawyer Terry Christensen, have been indicted for allegedly using illegal background checks and wiretaps to dig up dirt on adversaries, typically in civil and criminal litigation. All deny the charges.
Director John McTiernan of "Die Hard" fame and five others have pleaded guilty.
The timing and nature of the alleged attempt to put a prison hit on Proctor was not revealed Monday in court papers that were filed by prosecutors. The papers opposed an earlier motion by Pellicano's attorney to compel authorities to turn over additional evidence.
But records and interviews show that Proctor, 62, was moved in recent months from a federal prison in Greenville, Ill., to a federal facility in southeast Georgia, where he continues to serve a 10-year sentence for drug trafficking.
They also show that the purported plot was uncovered early this year when Pellicano was about to be released from a prison near Bakersfield on explosives charges stemming from the November 2002 search of his office, where FBI agents found two illegally modified hand grenades and C4 plastic explosives.
A 112-count indictment filed against Pellicano, Christensen and other defendants in February alleged that they used wiretaps and illegal background checks to obtain "confidential, embarrassing or incriminating" information, typically to help attorneys and other clients gain an advantage in civil or criminal litigation.
Since then, authorities have charged that Pellicano should not be released on bail because he posed a threat to potential witnesses. But it was not until Monday's allegation regarding the mob hit on Proctor that government prosecutors provided any details.
