Wednesday, August 14, 1996

Tabloid TV Appearance Lands Irvin Snitch in Slammer
By the Associated Press
(August 14, 1996)

DALLAS (AP) - The man whose hidden-camera footage of Michael Irvin fueled a drug scandal around the Dallas Cowboys receiver was ordered Tuesday to serve 30 days in jail for violating a judge's gag order.

Dennis Pedini, 30, was cited for contempt June 4 for giving an interview and providing hidden-camera video of Irvin to the syndicated television show "Hard Copy." State district Judge Manny Alvarez also fined Pedini $500.

The jail term came after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected a plea by Pedini lawyer Mike Heiskell. Pedini appeared before Alvarez Tuesday to hear the appeals court's July 24 decision and receive his sentence.

Pedini must serve 30 days without time off for good behavior because the charge was contempt, court coordinator David Lozano said.

Jim Ewell, a spokesman for the Dallas County Sheriff's Sheriff's Department, said Pedini will be allowed to serve his sentence by spending weekends in Lew Sterrett Justice Center.

Pedini secretly recorded Irvin in a car during two purported cocaine buys. He later sold the footage to a television station, which broadcast it.

After the secretly recorded video was aired in May, the judge included Pedini in a wide-ranging gag order concerning Irvin's then-approaching drug trial. But Pedini later appeared on the national tabloid TV show.

The judge agreed with Irvin's attorneys that Pedini, who once installed security cameras at the Dallas Cowboys' compound, threatened Irvin's right to a fair trial when he gave the TV interview.

Irvin's trial, stemming from a March 4 drug bust at an Irving motel room, began June 25 and concluded July 16 when the football star pleaded no contest to a second-degree felony cocaine possession charge.

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