LOS ANGELES, April 8 (UPI) -- A former music company executive pleaded guilty to paying a private investigator at least $125,000 to wiretap an ex-girlfriend who testified against him.
Robert Pfeifer, 51, is the fifth person to plead guilty to federal charges in the federal investigation of Anthony Pellicano, his associates and clients. Investigators are looking into a range of alleged offenses including wiretapping and conducting illegal background checks on celebrities, spouses and business executives -- typically to help clients gain an advantage in civil or criminal litigation.
Pfeifer, once president of Disney-owned Hollywood Records, was arrested Feb. 4 by the FBI and has remained in federal custody, The Los Angeles Times reported.
In court documents, authorities have said Finn testified about Pfeifer's alleged drug use and alleged that Pfeifer and Pellicano used a wiretap to try to get Finn her to change her testimony.
The government was dropping the more serious witness-tampering charge, but Pfeifer's defense lawyer declined to comment on whether that indicated Pfeifer had agreed to cooperate with prosecutors s part of his plea agreement.
