Tom Cruise once hired fallen celeb PI Anthony Pellicano to find out who had been following him around, according to testimony this afternoon.

Pellicano and former LAPD Sergeant Mark Arneson were overheard discussing Cruise’s plight by Pellicano’s top assistant, Lily LeMasters, who testified in federal court today that the men were “trying to find out who this license plate belonged to, because it’s Tom Cruise.”

Pellicano and Arneson are on trial for running an illegal wiretapping and information-
gathering network. Arneson allegedly used police computers to illegally obtain DMV and criminal information about rivals of Pellicano’s clients. The sleuth’s clients included Farrah Fawcett and Paramount Studios chairman Brad Grey.

Pellicano ran a covert wiretapping operation out of his Sunset Strip office, bugging the phones of rivals for clients like Erin Brokovich attorney Ed Masuri, LeMasters testified. She also stated that Arneson was paid at least $2500 a month for his work, and that he was also a celeb bodyguard whose clients included Farrah Fawcett and top entertainment attorney Bert Fields. Fields referred Cruise to Pellicano, LeMasters said.

WENN