Die Hard director John McTiernan vows to appeal against prison sentence

Die Hard director John McTiernan has vowed to appeal after he was sentenced to one year in jail on Monday for lying to FBI agents over the infamous Anthony Pellicano wiretapping case. McTiernan, 59, whose other films include The Hunt for Red October and The Thomas Crown Affair, declined the opportunity to address the court or speak to reporters outside the courtroom. However, he subsequently gave an interview to the Hollywood Reporter in which he said he would continue to fight the conviction for as long as he could. "We don't stop," he said. "At a certain point, someone brings a fight to you, and you wind up in the middle of it. I don't know when to stop. I'm not sure in something like this you do. You go as long as you can." The director originally admitted lying about hiring the private investigator, dubbed the "PI to the stars", in 2006. He was sentenced to four months in jail, but later attempted to withdraw his plea, arguing that he did not have adequate legal representation and was also jet-lagged and under the influence of alcohol when he was contacted by the federal agent late at night. He was eventually allowed to withdraw the plea by a judge last year, but was later retried and convicted, leading to Monday's decision. Before sentencing McTiernan, US district judge Dale Fischer rebuked the film-maker, stating: "The defendant doesn't feel the law applies to him." The judge also highlighted the director's privileged existence and said a prison sentence would ensure he no longer maintained the ability to eat "aged cheeses, cured meats or red wine". With regards to the anti-depressants McTiernan takes for a condition, she said: "He won't be the only depressed man in prison." Since the charges against him first arose, McTiernan has not worked in Hollywood, due, he told the Reporter, to insurance issues. He said he hoped to recommence film-making on the action movie Shrapnel, but said he was not overly concerned with making a grand return to the industry. "This all has changed my attitude about stuff," said McTiernan. "There are several good movies I would like to make, but the possibility of not making them any more and getting used to that and seeing what you care about or not – it hasn't been the worst experience in the world. On Hollywood, I haven't been in the Hollywood mix in a long time." Pellicano was convicted in 2008 of wiretapping film producer Charles Roven for McTiernan and of bugging the phones of celebrities and others to get information for clients. Roven worked with McTiernan on the 2002 box-office flop Rollerball.