Stars' private eye found guilty

Anthony Pellicano will be sentenced in September

US celebrity private eye Anthony Pellicano has been found guilty of racketeering and conspiracy charges.

The 64-year-old was convicted of running a criminal enterprise involving wiretapping and bribery to fix the problems of his wealthy clients.

A Los Angeles jury convicted him on all but one of the 77 charges against him.

Pellicano, who pleaded not guilty and defended himself, is expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars when he is sentenced in September.

"We went by the evidence - there was a lot of evidence," said Terri Winbush, forewoman of the jury.

Pellicano was accused of wiretapping stars such as Sylvester Stallone and running the names of others through police databases to help clients in legal and other disputes.

Celebrity witnesses

The two month trial exposed the seedier side of the film industry and featured a celebrity-heavy witness list.

Stars including actor Chris Rock and comedian Garry Shandling testified they hired Pellicano, or were spied on by him, during disputes ranging from cheating spouses and paternity cases to showbusiness contracts.

The court was told Pellicano used sophisticated bugging software to gather information from a network of contacts, including police.

He allegedly raked in more than $2m (£1m), including a non-refundable retainer that started at $25,000 (£12,500), for his services.

Stars like Chris Rock testified in the Los Angeles trial

Pellicano, who called a single witness in his defence, argued that his work differed little from any other investigative agency - or even, he suggested, the work of journalists.

He decided against taking the stand to defend himself and kept true to his promise that he would not betray the trust of his clients.

The jury found him guilty of racketeering and racketeering conspiracy, along with wiretapping, wire fraud, identity theft, conspiracy to intercept or use wire communications and manufacture or possession of a wiretapping device.

He was acquitted of a charge of unauthorised computer access.

The racketeering charges each carry a maximum of 20 years in prison, while most of the other charges have five-year maximum sentences.

Sentencing was set for 24 September and US District Judge Dale Fischer ordered Pellicano to remain in custody.

Pellicano's four co-defendants - including a former police officer, a telephone company official and a computer expert who designed the sophisticated "telesleuth" wiretapping device - were found guilty on most of the dozens of charges they faced.

In total, 14 people have been charged and seven, including film director John McTiernan and former Hollywood Records president Robert Pfeifer, pleaded guilty to charges including perjury and conspiracy.