Public To Pay For Celebrity Private Investigator Crimes

The ongoing case of disgraced private investigator to the stars and Clintons, Anthony Pellicano, could end up costing taxpayers in two California cities millions of dollars because police officers conspiring with Pellicano illegally accessed law enforcement databases.

A Beverly Hills police officer named Craig Stevens has already pleaded guilty to six felony counts for illegally accessing that department’s databases and a Los Angeles Police sergeant named Mark Arneson has been charged with tapping into confidential databases for information on dozens of people being investigated by Pellicano.

Legal experts say that the officers’ actions mean the city of Beverly Hills and Los Angeles could face enormous civil payouts since municipalities are liable for their police departments.

Pellicano, fresh out of prison for possession of explosives, is charged with racketeering for paying police officers to get him confidential records and information and for using it to illegally wiretap more than 80 celebrities, attorneys and reporters. The entire, 110-count indictment has been posted on the Smoking Gun.