LOS ANGELES (CN) - High profile entertainment lawyer Terry Christensen was sentenced to three years in federal prison for ordering former private investigator Anthony Pellicano to wiretap a loyal client's ex-wife. The government's announced coincided with the decision of the Christensen Glaser firm to change its name.
United States District Judge Dale Fisher refused Christensen's request for no jail time, saying that Christensen's crimes "marred the legal profession in the eyes of the public and demonstrated a disrespect for the justice system on a grand scale."
Christensen was formerly the first named partner in the Century City firm that is now called Glaser, Fink, Jacobs, Weil & Shapiro. Before that, Christensen worked as a federal prosecutor.
During trial, the government showed that Christensen paid Pellicano more than $100,000 to wiretap Lisa Bonder Kerkorian, the ex-wife of Kirk Kerkorian, a mega resort tycoon who helped build Las Vegas in the 1960s. Kerkorian and his ex-wife were embroiled in a child support dispute. Prosecutors also showed that Christensen used the information Pellicano gave him in court.
Pellicano, who was found guilty in May of paying a cop for confidential information, along with wiretapping and racketeering charges, will be sentenced on December 15. He could face decades in prison.
Meanwhile, the Christensen Glaser firm announced that it will hereinafter be named Glaser Weil Fink Jacobs & Shapiro LLP.
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