John McTiernan Charged by FBI!

LAST ACTION HERO director, JOHN McTIERNAN has been charged with lying to the FBI about his involvement with Pellicano, the wiretappingest private dick in all of show business.

McTiernan, also director of such big hits as PREDATOR, DIE HARD and THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR, was interviewed by the feds on Febtuary 13th, according to the charges filed by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles.

"McTiernan claimed that he had no knowledge of any wiretapping conducted by Anthony Pellicano and had never discussed wiretapping with Anthony Pellicano, when in fact, as defendant McTiernan knew, he had hired and paid Anthony Pellicano to conduct a wiretap," according to the charges.

The document stated that McTiernan "hired and paid" Pellicano to wiretap calls of Charles Roven, another Hollywood producer who worked with McTiernan on ROLLERBALL. The charges do not say when the wiretapping happened, why it happened or how much Pellicano was paid.

McTiernan is the 14th person charged in the burgeoning investigation of Pellicano, who is accused of directing a racketeering enterprise that unlawfully wiretapped and conducted illegal background checks on dozens of celebrities and executives, including actor Sylvester Stallone, comedians Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon, and real estate developer Robert Maguire.

McTiernan is scheduled for an arraignment April 17th on a charge that carries a maximum five year jail sentence.

With the investigation entering legal and entertainment circles, the charge against McTiernan seemed to come from nowhere, and indicates that the inquiry is rapidly developing new investigative avenues as prosecutors continue sorting through mounds of documents and hours of tape recordings seized from Pellicano's office.

McTiernan's name was not among a shortlist of Hollywood lawyers and entertainment figures thought to be among those facing possible indictment.

Last month, prosecutors disclosed in court that they expected at least one more indictment by mid April in connection with the Pellicano case. But sources said on Monday that the charge against McTiernan was not the one they had referred to, meaning there are more indictments to come.

Global Arnold Staff

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