As we reported here a while back, Die Hard director, John McTiernan was trying to call back a guilty plea he had entered some time back in conjunction with charges stemming from his alleged lying to FBI agents concerning one disgraced Hollywood PI, Anthony Pellicano. McTiernan was sentenced to four months in federal prison today when the judge denied his right to withdraw his previous guilty plea based on "insufficient legal counsel."
The director of such Hollywood hits as Last Action Hero originally told FBI agents he was unaware of Pellicano's alleged wiretapping practices when he hired the PI, but then admitted using Pellicano to wiretap an associate with whom he had worked on Rollerball. Pellicano faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on all the charges he faces!
Now, yes, it is wrong to illegally wiretap associates - or anyone, for that matter - and yes, it is generally wrong to lie to the FBI, but with all the prison overcrowding and serious crimes going on out there (not a few of which go on right there in Hollow-wood, I might add), this seems really effing stupid to me. Not to mention that none of these same rules apply to the FBI, who illegally wiretap people, lie to decent citizens all the time in order to entrap them and coerce them into "cooperating," and who are facing some pretty serious allegations themselves in conjunction with this very investigation.
Oh, I did? Did I mention that? Well, I meant not to. Can I take it back?
You do realize that Paris Hilton spent 44 times longer in jail than fricking Mike Nifong did, don't you? And Nifong ruined the lives and careers of three promising, young, collegiate athletes! Paris Hilton's your garden-variety dipshit on her best days! Now McTiernan is going to be spending four months in a federal pen for lying to federal agents, whereas Mike Nifong lied to the world...
It isn't like what he did was so bad for Hollow-wood; how many times do we get a movie from one company mere weeks before we get the same movie from every other company? How many TV shows are that different from the others? This sort of thing goes on around there everyday! Of course it's wrong, of course it's unethical, but does sending him to prison really send any other message to anyone besides, "Don't lie to the cops"? And doesn't this guy have every right to withhold information from the feds when he isn't sure what they have on him or what his options are? They've got the guy they want: Pellicano; so what good does it do to screw with this chap?
If you really want to make an example of McTiernan, fine him an outrageous amount of money - the kind of money even Hollywood executives' eyes grow wider when hearing. After all, he isn't going to have much of a career when all is said and done; who's going to want to work with him now that they know the tactics he's willing to employ against others who have worked with him before?
Now remember all this next month, when we hear about yet another convicted child molester or murderer who has been released due to prison overcrowding and went right out and did it again...
The director of such Hollywood hits as Last Action Hero originally told FBI agents he was unaware of Pellicano's alleged wiretapping practices when he hired the PI, but then admitted using Pellicano to wiretap an associate with whom he had worked on Rollerball. Pellicano faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on all the charges he faces!
Now, yes, it is wrong to illegally wiretap associates - or anyone, for that matter - and yes, it is generally wrong to lie to the FBI, but with all the prison overcrowding and serious crimes going on out there (not a few of which go on right there in Hollow-wood, I might add), this seems really effing stupid to me. Not to mention that none of these same rules apply to the FBI, who illegally wiretap people, lie to decent citizens all the time in order to entrap them and coerce them into "cooperating," and who are facing some pretty serious allegations themselves in conjunction with this very investigation.
Oh, I did? Did I mention that? Well, I meant not to. Can I take it back?
You do realize that Paris Hilton spent 44 times longer in jail than fricking Mike Nifong did, don't you? And Nifong ruined the lives and careers of three promising, young, collegiate athletes! Paris Hilton's your garden-variety dipshit on her best days! Now McTiernan is going to be spending four months in a federal pen for lying to federal agents, whereas Mike Nifong lied to the world...
It isn't like what he did was so bad for Hollow-wood; how many times do we get a movie from one company mere weeks before we get the same movie from every other company? How many TV shows are that different from the others? This sort of thing goes on around there everyday! Of course it's wrong, of course it's unethical, but does sending him to prison really send any other message to anyone besides, "Don't lie to the cops"? And doesn't this guy have every right to withhold information from the feds when he isn't sure what they have on him or what his options are? They've got the guy they want: Pellicano; so what good does it do to screw with this chap?
If you really want to make an example of McTiernan, fine him an outrageous amount of money - the kind of money even Hollywood executives' eyes grow wider when hearing. After all, he isn't going to have much of a career when all is said and done; who's going to want to work with him now that they know the tactics he's willing to employ against others who have worked with him before?
Now remember all this next month, when we hear about yet another convicted child molester or murderer who has been released due to prison overcrowding and went right out and did it again...
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