Director John McTiernan pleaded guilty Monday to lying to the FBI about having investigator Anthony Pellicano wiretap producer Charles Roven.

McTiernan's admission before U.S. District Court Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles makes him the sixth person -- of the 14 charged to date -- to plead guilty in the widening scandal. McTiernan also is the highest-profile defendant to emerge in this case thus far.

McTiernan, who has directed such features as "Die Hard" and "The Hunt for Red October," pleaded guilty after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors, terms of which were kept under seal. McTiernan was allowed to remain free on bond until his July 31 sentence, at which he faces up to five years in federal prison.

The plea deal, coming on the day McTiernan was scheduled to be arraigned, did not shed any light on why McTiernan targeted Roven. The most obvious link between the two men remains their collaboration on the 2002 feature "Rollerball," which McTiernan directed and produced and Roven produced.

In pleading guilty, McTiernan acknowledged that he asked Pellicano to wiretap Roven in the summer of 2000: "I spoke with him about it. I never received a report. ... After approximately two weeks, I paid him off and fired him," McTiernan told the court.

McTiernan was charged April 3 with making a false statement to federal agents. In the Feb. 13 interview with an FBI agent, McTiernan denied knowing about or discussing any wiretapping by Pellicano, prosecutors said.

Roven has produced such films as "The Brothers Grimm," "Batman Begins," "Three Kings" and "Twelve Monkeys." His upcoming projects include a sequel to "Batman Begins" and "Get Smart."

Pellicano, who maintains his innocence, has been charged in a 112-count indictment with orchestrating a scheme to wiretap or illegally investigate people on behalf of clients. According to prosecutors, Sylvester Stallone and Keith Carradine were among those wiretapped, while Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon were subjected to unauthorized background checks by police officers who had been bribed by Pellicano.

Prosecutors have indicated that they expect to file more indictments soon.

Separately on Monday, one of the alleged wiretap victims, Lisa Bonder Kerkorian, filed a civil lawsuit against Pellicano and SBC Telecommunications for negligence, invasion of privacy and other claims.

Bonder Kerkorian, the ex-wife of billionaire and former MGM owner Kirk Kerkorian, allegedly was wiretapped by Pellicano at the request of prominent Hollywood attorney Terry Christensen.

Christensen was indicted in February on two counts of paying Pellicano at least $100,000 to illegally eavesdrop on Bonder Kerkorian's conversations with her attorney, a court mediator and others to gain an advantage in a legal dispute.

Bonder Kerkorian's filing in Los Angeles Superior Court alleged that she was subjected to the wiretapping between March 15-May 16, 2002. She accused unnamed telephone company employees of helping Pellicano to conduct the wiretaps.

Bonder Kerkorian claims that the wiretapping was undertaken to learn her legal "plans, strategies, perceived strengths and weaknesses, settlement position and other highly confidential information."

Christensen has denied using Pellicano for illegal purposes.

Other alleged victims also have sued Pellicano for invasion of privacy and other civil claims. They include Carradine and fiancee Hayley DuMond, who sued Pellicano, Carradine's ex-wife Sandra Carradine and SBC last month for the wiretap that allegedly was put on their telephone during a divorce case (HR 3/27).

Reuters contributed to this report.