LOS ANGELES – A former music executive charged in a wiretapping case involving Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano was ordered held without bail after the judge deemed him a flight risk.
Prosecutors presented e-mails allegedly written by Robert Pfeifer, a former president of Hollywood Records, in which Pfeifer told a friend he would flee or kill himself if he had to serve jail time.
“I will know before I get served an indictment. And you know I am not sticking around for that,” a Nov. 13, 2003, email said. “I would kill myself before I went to jail or trial. But first I would run.”
Magistrate Judge Stephen J. Hillman said Tuesday that the e-mails showed Pfeifer was experiencing “intensely volatile emotions” and was tracking when the indictment would be returned so he could leave the country.
Pfeifer’s attorney, Leonard Sharenow, said his client wouldn’t dodge authorities.
Pfeifer, 50, is charged with witness tampering and accused of wiretapping a former girlfriend. Six other people also were charged in the indictment that accuses Pellicano of leading a criminal enterprise to engage in illegal wiretapping of celebrities, attorneys and reporters.
Pellicano pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday and remained in custody. Last week, he completed a 30-month federal prison term for possessing illegal explosives.