PI charged with threatening reporter

LOS ANGELES, June 17 (UPI) -- Anthony Pellicano, a private investigator for some of Hollywood's biggest stars, has been charged with conspiracy and threatening a Los Angeles Times reporter.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley announced the charges Friday against Pellicano, 61, who is currently serving a 30-month sentence in federal prison for possession of hand grenades and plastic explosives. Investigators found the materiel in Pellicano's Sunset Boulevard office while they were looking into threats against reporter Anita Bush in 2002.

Busch, who subsequently left the Times, had been investigating a possible connection between actor Steven Seagal and organized crime.

At one point, when Busch went to get in her car, parked outside her home, she said it appeared someone had fired a bullet through the windshield. There was also a dead fish on the car with a sign attached to it that said: "Stop."

Alexander Proctor was charged with that offense. He was charged Friday with conspiring with Pellicano to carry out the threat.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Proctor, in secretly recorded conversations with an FBI informant, allegedly said Pellicano had hired him to scare Busch.

Pellicano's clients have included such Hollywood luminaries as Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson.