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[/td] [/tr] [/tbody][/table][span style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"]Boy, that's gotta be embarrassing. At least it was the last time ithappened to me. [/span][br style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"][hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px; font-family: Arial Narrow;"][br style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] [font style="font-family: Arial Narrow;" size="4"]Tamahori arrested in drag duringsex sting [/font][br style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"][span style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] 04 February 2006 [/span][br style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"][span style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] By TOM CARDY [/span][br style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"][br style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] [b style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"]Kiwi film-maker Lee Tamahori faces up to a year in jailand a $7200 fine after his arrest in a Hollywood prostitution sting.[/b][span style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] [/span][br style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] Allegedlywearing a black wig and an off-the-shoulder dress, Tamahori, 55, issaid to have approached an undercover policeman on January 8 on SantaMonica Boulevard and offered him sex for money. [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] LosAngeles Police Department confirmed to Agence France-Press (AFP) thatTamahori, best known for the harrowing Once Were Warriors and the JamesBond movie Die Another Day, had been arrested and charged withsoliciting. [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] Spokesman officer Jason Lee told AFP he was arrested during aprostitution sting. [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] "Hewas dressed as a woman and approached one of our undercover officersfor prostitution. That's when he was taken into custody." [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] Asked what Tamahori was wearing when arrested, Mr Lee said:"A woman's dress." [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] UnderCalifornian law, the soliciting charge could mean a year in jail, a$US5000 ($NZ7200) fine, or both. "But normally you don't get a longjail time for this." [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] Prosecutorsconfirmed to AFP they had filed two misdemeanour charges againstTamahori – agreeing to engage in an act of prostitution and unlawfullyloitering. [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] "Hewas arrested after approaching an undercover officer, who was sittingin his car, and offering to perform a sex act," Frank Mateljan, of theLos Angeles City Attorney's Office, said. [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] "The defendant was dressed in drag, loitering on thesidewalk." [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] Tamahori was wearing an off-the-shoulder dress and a blackwig. [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] Heis due to appear in court in Los Angeles on February 24 to be arraignedon the two charges. He is free on $US2000 ($NZ3000) bail, according tothe city attorney's office. [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] Anentertainment website reported that he was being represented bycelebrity lawyer Mark Geragos, who has defended Michael Jackson,actress Winona Ryder and Roger Clinton, former president Bill Clinton'sbrother. [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] However, Mr Geragos' Los Angeles office could not confirmthis. [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] Tamahori, who grew up in Tawa, shot to fame with 1994's OnceWere Warriors. [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] Hollywoodthen snapped him up for several high-profile action movies andthrillers, including Mulholland Falls, The Edge, Along Came a Spider,Die Another Day and XXX 2: The Next Level. [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] He has also directed an episode of The Sopranos. [/p][p style="font-family: Arial Narrow;"] He is due to begin production on Hollywood sci-fi film Nextwith Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore. [/p]
