Finally John McTiernan has run out of options and is headed to jail. The director behind such great films as Predator, Die Hard, and The Thomas Crown Affair has managed to avoid serving a 12-month sentence for lying to the FBI and committing perjury in the wiretapping case involving private investigator Anthony Pelicano. McTiernan's final appeal to the Supreme Court was rejected on Monday as they decided not to hear the case. Pelicano is currently serving a 15-year sentence for racketeering. McTiernan had lied in stating that he never spoke with Pelicano about wiretapping producer Chuck Roven(about Rollerball of all things!), but tape recordings by the investigator proved otherwise.
McTiernan had plead guilty back in 2006, but has since been filing various appeals to stay out of prison. His appeal to the 9th Circuit court in 2010 was rejected, but he was allowed to remain free while appealing to the Supreme Court. With that option now off the table, he'll be turning himself in to a federal prison soon. I have my doubts his last 24 hours as a free man will be as cool or eventful as Spike Lee's 25th Hour, but a guy can hope. Once his sentence is up, McTiernan will still be under a form of probation for the next three years.
McTiernan's name had been popping up lately as he began to feel more confident in his case, most recently attached to Killing Season with Robert De Niro and John Travolta, but was ultimately replaced by Mark Steven Johnson. McTiernan's last film was the 2003 military thriller, Basic.
