Die Hard director jailed
The Die Hard director has been charged with lying to FBI agents
Tuesday, 25, Sep 2007 04:20
John McTiernan, director of Die Hard, has been sentenced to four months in prison as part of an ongoing investigation into Hollywood corruption.
The 56-year-old director was charged with lying to FBI agents investigating the dealings of celebrity detective Anthony Pellicano.
Pellicano has pleaded not guilty to charges of wiretapping a number of high-profile Hollywood celebrities, including Sylvester Stallone, Garry Shandling and Keith Carradine.
When McTiernan, also the director of The Hunt for Red October, The Thomas Crown Affair and the remake of Rollerball, was first interviewed by federal agents, he denied all knowledge of Pellicano's alleged privacy breaches.
However, he pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI last year, after admitting using Pellicano to wiretap Charles Roven, his producer on Rollerball.
At a Los Angeles court hearing yesterday, McTiernan's defence team claimed that his original false statements were as a result of the confusion caused by being in the midst of a divorce, as well as suffering from jet-lag and being on medication.
But Judge Dale S Fischer said these arguments were "completely lacking in credibility" and denied McTiernan's attempt to withdraw his guilty plea.
The filmmaker has until January 15th to turn himself in and pay his fine of $100,000 (£49,707).