Celebrity Sleuth's Wiretaps Unveiled

The secrets of some of Hollywood's biggest stars could be exposed after a court yesterday ruled that prosecutors can trawl through the transcripts of wiretaps found in the office of the infamous "celebrity sleuth" Anthony Pellicano.

In a career spanning two decades, the private detective was hired by celebrity clients including Tom Cruise, Michael Jackson, Elizabeth Taylor and Kevin Costner, often to keep unflattering stories out of the press.

He described himself as a "sin-eater" for celebrities.

Pellicano is currently serving a 30-month prison sentence after being convicted of having firearms, grenades and enough plastic explosive to bring down an airliner stashed in a safe in his office.

He now faces possible additional charges of illegal wiretapping.

FBI agents claim to have found the equivalent of 2bn pages of wiretap transcripts when they raided Pellicano's offices in 2002.

Lawyers representing Pellicano had attempted to block the transcripts from prosecutors, arguing that the search of his offices was illegal.

However yesterday's ruling means that celebrity blushes will not be spared. The FBI found the explosives and computer files while investigating a complaint from the LA Times reporter Anita Busch, who claimed Pellicano had attempted to intimidate her into dropping a story she was pursuing about the actor Steven Seagal.

Busch said she had received threatening telephone messages, was nearly run down by two men in a Mercedes with tinted windows, and someone had placed a dead fish, a rose and a note that read "Stop" on her car.

Police investigations led to an ex-convict who claimed that Pellicano had paid him to plant the message on Busch's car. Pellicano was never charged with making threats but did plead guilty to weapons possession.

A high school dropout, Pellicano built a lucrative business representing some of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

At the time of his arrest in November 2002, he told FBI agents that he had bought the hand grenades and explosives from a client, put them in his safe and forgotten them.

He is due for release from prison in February. His defence said it would appeal against the judge's decision.