Racketeering

Former Mongols motorcycle gang leader Ruben "Doc" Cavazos faces up to life in prison after pleading guilty to a single racketeering charge among 86 counts accusing gang members of murder, assault, robbery and drug-trafficking, court documents show. The plea deal between Cavazos and the U.S.

For the last six years, few plots in Hollywood have kept more power brokers and entertainment lawyers in suspense than the FBI investigation into onetime private eye to the stars Anthony Pellicano. With alleged victims including actors Sylvester Stallone and Keith Carradine and secret grand jury testimony from the likes of super-agent Mike Ovitz and studio executives Brad Grey and Ron Meyer, the case was seen by many as the entertainment industry's biggest scandal in decades.

In his first opportunity to rebut charges that could put him away for life, private eye Anthony Pellicano on Thursday sidestepped the government's allegations that he was the heart and soul of a wiretapping and racketeering ring that empowered celebrities and other well-heeled clients to "discredit and in some cases destroy" their adversaries. Instead, the enigmatic former investigator, acting as his own attorney, told the packed courtroom of U.S. District Judge Dale S.

Tearfully confronting her former boss, a key government witness in the racketeering trial of Anthony Pellicano told a federal jury Wednesday that she feared for her life after telling the FBI and a grand jury about the indicted private investigator's alleged wiretapping and other crimes. "I was shattered. I was so scared . . . about your retaliation," a seemingly terrified Tarita Virtue said to Pellicano, who is acting as his own defense attorney.

Two of Hollywood's most powerful talent agents, Bryan Lourd and Kevin Huvane, breezed into the trial of private detective Anthony Pellicano on Wednesday for barely 10 minutes total of testimony. "This is going to be boring," Lourd quipped to reporters in the hallway outside the courtroom before his five minutes on the stand. In a way, he was right.

Another Hollywood power player provided a fleeting glimpse in federal court Thursday of some of the allegedly illegal handiwork of Los Angeles private detective Anthony Pellicano. Freddy DeMann, a former manager of Madonna and a co-founder of Maverick Records, testified that he hired Pellicano in 2000 to investigate his daughter Pilar's then-husband, who DeMann suspected of infidelity.

Oh, the tear-stained witness stand. After a few days of dry testimony about telephone circuitry and software encryption, the tears flowed Friday in the federal wiretapping and racketeering trial of Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano and four co-defendants.

Hedge fund manager Adam Sender was angry -- at the man with whom he had invested $1.1 million and at himself for believing it would lead to a successful film company and another venture. So after a year of searching in vain for Aaron Russo, Sender hired private detective Anthony Pellicano.

While his defense lawyer watched, intent but helpless to stop it, former Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Mark Arneson underwent an eviscerating cross-examination on Wednesday at the federal trial of private detective Anthony Pellicano. Assistant U.S. Atty.

A now-retired FBI agent was grilled Friday on why he didn't investigate legitimate jobs former Los Angeles Police Sgt. Mark Arneson may have worked for Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano. Arneson, 54, in earlier testimony admitted that he did "cross the line" by snooping in police files for Pellicano, who is on trial on wiretapping and racketeering charges. Arneson maintained that the $195,000 Pellicano paid him was for legal services, including guarding the detective's Hollywood clients.