Threat Suspect Is Guilty in U.S. Case

An ex-convict accused of threatening a Los Angeles Times reporter pleaded guilty Monday to a federal drug charge that will send him to prison for at least 10 years.

Alexander Proctor, 59, will be subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years behind bars when he is sentenced in federal court Jan. 12 for transporting a kilogram of cut heroin from Los Angeles to Atlanta in a secret compartment of his car.

Proctor is also awaiting prosecution in Los Angeles County Superior Court for allegedly making a criminal threat last year against Times reporter Anita M. Busch.

While researching the relationship between actor Steven Seagal and an alleged Mafia associate, Busch discovered that her car windshield had been punctured. Left on the hood were a dead fish with a rose in its mouth and a sign that read: “Stop.”

According to court documents, Proctor implicated himself in the threat during tape-recorded conversations with an FBI informant. He allegedly told the informant that he had been hired by Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano on behalf of Seagal.

Pellicano and Seagal have not been charged in that case and have denied any involvement.

Pellicano, however, is scheduled to go on trial in Los Angeles federal court next week on charges of illegally possessing two hand grenades and a quantity of C4 plastic explosives. The contraband was discovered when FBI agents searched his office for evidence linking him to Proctor.