Die Hard Director John McTiernan is Headed to Awesome-Sounding Prison

Written by Vince Mancini / 01.16.13

Aw, remember when Bruce Willis still had chest hair?

John McTiernan, director of the great Predator, the awesome Die Hard, the wonderful Hunt For Red October, the underrated Last Action Hero, and, uh… some other stuff, is headed to prison for his role in a Hollywood wiretapping scandal. You ask me, it’s the directors of Die Hard 2 and 4 who should be in prison. (*knocks invisible baseball over imaginary fence*)

John McTiernon, 62, received a one-year sentence and fine of $100,000 in 2010 for making false statements to the FBI during its investigation into private investigator Anthony Pellicano.

He never should’ve tried to defend Rollerball.

On Monday the Supreme Court refused his request to reverse his guilty plea and a judge is expected to order him to prison.
Private eye Pellicano, 68, is currently serving 15 years in a federal prison in Texas for charges including bugging the phones of the rich and famous on behalf of other Hollywood celebrities and major business players.
He was arrested in 2002 after the FBI found hundreds of hours of illegally recorded telephone conversations, along with hand grenades and enough plastic explosives to bring down a passenger jet. He was later found guilty of racketeering and more than six dozen other counts, including conspiracy, wire fraud and wiretapping and is expected to be released in 2019.
McTiernan is alleged to have hired Pellicano to investigate producer Chuck Roven. On appeal the film director had sought to suppress a recording in which McTiernon and Pellicano can be heard discussing the use of an illegal wiretap.
As his sentence stands currently McTiernan will spend 12 months in federal prison followed by three years under supervised release. [Independent]

Prison rape jokes are fun and all, but BALCO honcho Victor Conte, also known as the guy who (ALLEGEDLY) gave Barry Bonds steroids (and, minor trivia, was in a rock band with my uncle in the sixties), was on Joe Rogan’s podcast a while back talking about what federal prison is actually like for rich white people. Basically, there’s free food and rent, organized sporting events, female guards you can pay for sex, and all the drugs you could want.

Seriously:

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The director of Die Hard is going to jail

Written by Vince Mancini / 10.04.10

With movies like Die Hard, Predator, and The Hunt for Red October on his resume, John McTiernan was once one of the hottest directors in town, a Brett Ratner before there was Brett Ratner.  Then, in a story as old as time, he tried to make a movie about a futuristic roller derby starring Chris Klein and LL Cool J.  HIS EMPIRE CRUMBLED!JOhn-Mctiernan

John McTiernan has been handed a one-year sentence for committing perjury during the trial of P.I.-to-the-stars Anthony Pellicano [yes, his nickname is "The Pelican." Duh.]
During the investigation into Pellicano’s nefarious dealings, it came to light that McTiernan hired him, paying $50,000 to wiretap “Rollerball” producer Charles Roven. McTiernan inititally lied to the FBI about his involvement. [ThePlaylist]

If this story sounds familiar, it’s because back in 2007 McTiernan was sentenced to four months for the same crime.  And then…

Fischer originally sentenced McTiernan in 2007 to 4 months in prison after denying his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. But the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco in 2008 said McTiernan should get a new hearing. So last year he was allowed to withdraw his guilty plea because his previous lawyer hadn’t told him he could have tried to suppress the incriminating recording as evidence. [...]
His one-year federal prison term was handed down this morning at a sentencing hearing presided over by the same judge he lied to, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer. Fischer also ordered McTiernan to pay a $100,000 fine and serve three years probation.

LAWYER:  The great news is that your appeal went through!  You’re getting a new trial!
MCTIERNAN:  That’s great!  Wait, what’s the bad news?
LAWYER:  They found you guilty again and sentenced you to three times as much jail time.
MCTIERNAN:  WHAT?!?
LAWYER: Yeah… you know, a ‘thank you’ would’ve been nice. By the way, you owe me eighty-six thousand dollars.

DieHardTattoo

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