Crime & Arrests

Diddy's family is supporting him in court as he tries to get out of jail, while he awaits trial in his criminal case ... with 6 of his children making the trip to a packed Manhattan federal courtroom today.

Sarah Chapman, who shares a daughter with Diddy, was the first one to walk in ... with their daughter Chance not far behind in a second group of family members.

Also accompanying Chance ... Diddy's 17-year-old twin daughters, Jesse and D'Lila, who he had with the late Kim Porter. Quincy Brown, Kim's son who Diddy adopted, also walked in with Diddy's daughters.

Caleb Kennedy -- the former "American Idol" finalist who was arrested after a fatal DUI crash in 2022 -- has been sentenced to 8 years ... TMZ has confirmed.

Kennedy, who appeared on season 19 of the hit singing show, pled guilty to a felony driving under the influence where death results charge earlier this week. He'll also pay a fine of just more than $15K.

The 20-year-old singer will serve 5 years behind bars before serving the next 3 years in home detention. He's also required to serve 5 years of probation after his release, attend mental health and substance abuse counseling, and undergo random drug and alcohol testing.

One of the three men charged with selling the drugs that killed rapper Mac Miller has been released from federal prison, TMZ has learned.

According to a rep for the Bureau of Prisons ... Cameron James Pettit was sprung from the Federal Correctional Institution Mendota, California, on October 11 after he was arrested in 2019 and charged with conspiring to distribute controlled substances resulting in death. His two co-defendants, Stephen Walter, and Ryan Reavis, were also busted and indicted on the same federal charges.

Under a plea agreement with prosecutors, Walter and Reavis each copped to one count of distribution of fentanyl and were sentenced to around 17 years and 11 years behind bars, respectively.

The Osundairo brothers -- the two men who helped Jussie Smollett stage his hate crime hoax -- say they were taken aback ... not by his conviction being overturned, but because he never copped to what he did.

Abel and Ola sat down for an interview on "Fox & Friends" Friday morning ... and, they were asked about their thoughts on the Illinois State Supreme Court throwing out Jussie's conviction.

The two bros say they were taken by surprise initially ... 'cause, even though they understand Jussie has due process rights, he never actually admitted to his role in the hate crime hoax.

Jonathan Majors' legal drama with his ex, Grace Jabbari, is over ... 'cause she just dropped her defamation and assault lawsuit -- and, she can't bring it again.

According to documents filed Thursday, the parties filed a stipulation stating "all claims against Defendant in the above-captioned action are hereby dismissed with prejudice."

Basically, Grace agreed to drop the claims in her lawsuit ... and, by dismissing them with prejudice, it means they can’t be filed again.

Former NFL running back Wendell Smallwood -- a one-time Super Bowl champion -- has been charged with three felonies, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Court documents we obtained show federal prosecutors hit the 30-year-old on Oct. 28 with one count of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the IRS.

The feds claim the charges stem from Smallwood defrauding government agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Diddy is accusing federal prosecutors of dirty pool ... claiming they showed the judge an edited version of the Cassie beating video to make him look more dangerous than he is.

Diddy and his attorneys filed new docs ahead of his bail hearing scheduled for Friday ... accusing prosecutors of mischaracterizing and concealing critical facts, including allegedly editing the sequence of events from the March 2016 surveillance video.

They claim the government has the more complete version of that surveillance video -- presumably the version the world saw when it was released -- but, instead, tweaked the order of events to offer their "most powerful evidence of danger and obstruction."

10:05 AM PT -- Special Prosecutor Dan K. Webb has issued a statement, saying he's disappointed with the Illinois Supreme Court decision and respectfully disagrees with overturning Jussie Smollett's criminal conviction. Webb made it clear the court's decision has nothing to do with JS' guilt or innocence and he categorically believes Smollett is guilty of perpetrating a hate crime hoax against the city of Chicago.

He also pointed out the court's ruling had nothing to do with his 2 years of work on the case because he was appointed to his special prosecution role 5 months after Cook County D.A. Kim Foxx made a plea deal with Smollett. And Webb says it was that plea agreement that led to the "unprecedented" resolution initially in the case, which was the driving factor for the Supreme Court's decision today. In other words, Webb says he did nothing wrong.

9:10 AM PT -- Jussie's attorney, Nenye Uche, tells TMZ ... Jussie is "very pleasantly surprised," even "ecstatic." Uche emphasizes the court decision was unanimous.

He points out in the age of social media, courts need to push back and defend the rule of law and due process -- watch the video, he has some suggestions about how to address that.

A deal's a deal, and that means Jussie Smollett's conviction in the hate crime hoax case is now reversed, and he cannot be tried again ... according to the Illinois Supreme Court.

Illinois' high court ruled Thursday that Jussie's deal with Cook County prosecutors -- when they originally dropped the case against him -- had to be honored. State's Attorney Kim Foxx struck a plea deal with the actor, requiring him to forfeit his $10,000 bond, and do 15 hours of volunteer community service.

The court's ruling says because Jussie held up his end of the deal -- he actually did 18 hours of service -- he should not have been subject to a second prosecution. That's when he was convicted of felony disorderly conduct and sent to jail, briefly, until he appealed the decision.

Convicted child killer Susan Smith's tears at her parole hearing were all BS, totally fabricated to sway the board ... this, according to a former guard who was fired and prosecuted for having sex with her in prison years ago.

Alfred Rowe -- a disgraced prison guard formerly employed at Camille Graham Correctional Center in South Carolina, where Smith served until 2000 -- tells TMZ ... the parole board made the right choice by keeping her in prison.

Rowe says he doesn't think Smith has changed ... and getting emotional at the hearing was all for show -- with AR saying someone must've bottled some tears and brought them in for her to use, 'cause she's not capable of that level of emotion on her own.

The man accused of shooting and killing three University of Virginia football players during a horrifying incident on campus in 2022 has pleaded guilty to murder charges.

According to the school, 25-year-old Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. -- a former UVA student -- submitted the plea on Wednesday ... copping to three counts of first-degree murder and several other charges, including aggravated malicious wounding and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

The university said Darnell Jones Jr. is now facing a maximum sentence of life in prison. He's slated to learn his fate at a sentencing hearing during the first week of February.

Diddy's got an offer on the table for his L.A.-area mansion ... with a major realtor and his company offering $30 million for the pad -- a fraction of the asking price.

Bo Belmont and his company, Belwood Investments, announced they've put in an offer for the property, which Diddy bought back in 2014 for just a hair under $40 million.

Belmont says he wants to remove the stigma from the 17K-square-foot home ... and focus people's attention on how beautiful the actual property is.

Killer mom Susan Smith will not taste freedom after her plea to a parole board was unanimously denied following an emotional hearing.

The controversial convict, who has spent nearly 30 years behind bars for the drowning of her sons, Michael and Alex, appeared before a parole board in South Carolina via a video call Wednesday ... tearfully begging those hearing her case to let her go free. Michael was 3 years old and Alex was 14 months old when Smith killed them.

As Smith relayed in her testimony ... she now knows what she did "was so horrible" and claims she'd "give anything to go back and change it."

10:44 AM PT -- Jose Ibarra, an undocumented Venezuelan immigrant, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.

The judge in the case just issued the sentence ... Ibarra was found guilty on 10 charges, including malice murder, kidnapping and aggravated assault. Both the defense and the prosecution had opted for a bench trial, with a judge deciding Ibarra's fate, forgoing a jury trial.

The prosecution did not seek the death penalty in the case.

Jose Ibarra -- the man standing trial for nursing student Laken Riley's murder -- has been found guilty.

The verdict was announced minutes ago ... with a Georgia judge deciding Ibarra is guilty after the prosecution and defense agreed to a bench trial instead of a trial by jury.

Video and audio evidence played a key role in this trial ... with video of Ibarra unable to tell cops how he ended up with fresh scratches and marks on his arms just hours after Laken's death played in court earlier this week.

The Feds' raid on Diddy's jail cell has proved to be inconsequential, for now ... as a judge sided with the rapper's defense team after hearing arguments from both sides.

A hearing over the search at MDC Brooklyn was held on Tuesday, after Diddy's defense team accused prosecutors of obtaining privileged material in an unlawful raid on the rap mogul's prison cell.

While the prosecution denied intentionally seizing 19 pages of legal notes, Judge Arun Subramanian ruled they would need to destroy copies of the papers obtained in the search -- saying they should not consult the material until he made a final decision on whether they could be used in the trial.

Joe Exotic isn't offended one bit by Bowen Yang's impersonation of him on "Saturday Night Live" ... in fact, he's hoping to use the exposure to his advantage.

The "Tiger King" star tells TMZ ... he's given Bowen's impression his stamp of approval, praising the comedian for his accurate take. Not only does Joe think 'SNL' nailed his look -- applauding the mullet and the mustache -- he feels Bowen came very close to matching his voice.

He notes Bowen did a much better job at impersonating him than John Cameron Mitchell did in Peacock's "Joe vs Carole."

Cops in Colorado made a shocking discovery while searching a car during a traffic stop ... a used dildo!!!

Body cam footage from the Montrose Police Department shows the moment officers rummaging through a vehicle find a sex toy among a pile of mattresses, pillows and blankets ... and their reaction is hilarious.

In the video, obtained by TMZ, you see one of the cops toss the dildo to the side, then pick it up and show it to his fellow officers ... waving the sex toy around like a wand and laughing. One officer sticks the unit to the side of the car by its suction-cup.