Weapons & Guns

Federal prosecutors are looking at evidence that was seized at Stephen Belafonte's home to determine if he should be prosecuted on federal weapons charges ... TMZ has learned.

TMZ broke the story ... ATF agents raided the Hollywood Hills home Friday night to determine if Belafonte was in possession of a gun or ammunition. He's not allowed to have either after being convicted of domestic violence back in 2003.

Law enforcement sources tell us, ATF agents did not find a gun, but they did find an empty shell casing and a bullet that was out of the casing. Neither item in itself is a projectile, so it does not constitute "ammunition."

That said, we're told the U.S. Attorney in L.A., who obtained the search warrant which led to Friday's raid, is reviewing the case for possible prosecution. We're told the items have some circumstantial value but there's other evidence as well. Both Mel B and Stephen's brother would testify they have seen Stephen in possession of the gun on multiple occasions.

Our sources say other evidence was also seized Friday night, but they wouldn't give specifics.

We're told ATF continues to investigate.

If Belafonte is charged and convicted of illegal possession of a firearm, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

Rick Ross just struck a plea deal in his kidnapping trial ... and he's dodged multiple felony bullets.

The rapper was in a Fayette County courtroom Tuesday facing kidnapping, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and other charges for allegedly holding a groundskeeper on his Georgia estate at gunpoint, forcing him into a guesthouse and pistol-whipping the guy.

Under the deal, Ross pled no contest to 1 felony count of aggravated assault. The other felony charges were dropped. Ross was sentenced to time served in jail -- he had been locked up for a week. He was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

Now here's the sweet part of the deal for Ross. He's being sentenced as a first time felony offender ... that means when he pays the $10k fine -- which he'll do Tuesday night -- the conviction is erased from his record.

But it's not that easy. Prosecutors got more ... Ross pled no contest to 5 misdemeanors -- assault, battery, 2 counts of pointing a pistol at someone, and possession of less than 1 oz of pot. For the 5 misdemeanors he was given a total of 60 months probation.

One huge benefit for Ross ... under the deal, his travel will not be restricted.

Mel B claims estranged husband Stephen Belafonte was a monster, brutally beating her, extorting her into doing 3-ways with other women and threatening to release sex tapes ... and now she says she and her children fear for their lives.

Mel B's lawyers got a restraining order Monday, forcing Belafonte to stay away from Mel and her 3 kids and ordering him to leave the family home.

In her declaration, Mel B tells a horrific story of abuse. Here are some of her allegations:

-- November 2007, the night of her "Dancing with the Stars" finale, as she was getting ready at home, she says Stephen placed both of his hands around her neck, began choking her and slammed her down onto the hardwood floors. She says this was the pattern ... when she achieved any measure of success, he would "beat me down to let me know he was in charge."

-- July 2012, while she was taping 'X Factor,' she was going to tape a segment with Usher, and Belafonte flew into a jealous rage, punched her with a closed fist in the face, splitting her lip. When she asked how she was supposed to work with the injury, he said she should have thought of that before deciding to "flirt with and f*** Usher."

-- August 2012, the day after performing at the closing ceremonies for the London Olympics, he punched her with a closed fist and pushed her down on the carpet. Her skin was burned from being pushed against the carpet and her face "actually scabbed over the rug burns." He then forced her to tweet out she injured herself by running on 7" Christian Louboutin heels.

-- Mel B claims Stephen got their nanny pregnant. She says he told her he wanted to have the baby and "all three of us live together." She says Stephen ultimately demanded the nanny get an abortion. She also says Stephen paid the nanny in excess of $300,000 of Mel B's money "for alleged nanny services."

-- She also says in 2014, she was overcome with "emotional and physical exhaustion" and took an entire bottle of Aspirin. She tried calling 999 and he blocked her, throwing her in the bedroom, locking the door and "telling me to 'die, bitch!'"

-- She says Stephen has sex tapes of her and repeatedly threatened to release them to ruin her career.

-- And, she says, he forced her to "participate in sexual intercourse with him and random women" and he would often secretly record the encounters. She says when she tried to resist the 3-ways, he'd threaten to release the sex tapes.

-- Mel B says she tried to leave him many times, but he "threatened me with violence and threatened to destroy my life in every possible way ... destroy my career and take my kids from me."

-- Mel B says Stephen has a gun at home ... a violation of law since he's prohibited from carrying firearms as part of a domestic violence conviction involving another woman. She says the gun is either a .38 or .357 magnum.

TMZ broke the story ... agents from the Dept. of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms served a search warrant on Belafonte Friday night after his brother made claims Stephen had the gun. Mel claims Stephen kept the gun in a lockbox in the bedroom closet. She says ATF agents did not find the gun.

In addition to getting the restraining order, the judge ordered Stephen to leave the family home in the Hollywood Hills. He went to the house late Monday afternoon, packed up some of his stuff, and told our photog the allegations were untrue.

Boosie Badazz's concert ended before it began Saturday night after someone fired off shots ... and he's pissed off for himself and his fans.

Boosie was supposed to headline at Virginia Motorsports Park for the 2nd Annual Spring Fest, but before he could take the stage ... gunfire erupted. The shots created a mass panic, and 2 victims hospitalized with non-lethal injuries.

Cops from 5 different cities responded, but no suspects were arrested and it's unclear how many shooters were involved.

Here's proof the Russians do more for fun than just (allegedly) sabotaging democracy ... Sergey Kovalev firing a SICK gold-plated Tommy gun during a trip to a famous Russian weapons museum.

Krusher is from Kopeysk (where you can get a 5 star hotel for $75 a night, book now), but jaunted over to the Arsenal Museum of the Zlatoust Weapons plant and got some action in.

The weapon looks pretty sick, and although Sergey struggles at first, he manages to get a shot in after some help from the staff.

BTW ... all this happened indoors, so hopefully they were blanks. But, it's Russia, so you never know.

UPDATE -- We're told the gun isn't a traditional "Tommy Gun" but rather a Russian PPSh-41 ... essentially the Russian version of the Tommy Gun.

Ricardo Medina Jr. -- one of the stars of 'Power Rangers Samurai' -- was just sentenced to 6 years in prison for stabbing his roommate to death with a sword.

Ricardo appeared in court Thursday where the judge handed down the maximum sentence, 2 weeks after the actor pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter, and admitted he used a sword in the killing.

9:00 AM PT -- Raheem "Fuzz" Thomas is scheduled to make his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon in Paterson ... and law enforcement sources tell us cops are preparing for the worst. We're told there will be extra patrols outside the courthouse due to worries about rival gang members.

The same guy busted in the Fetty Wap shootout is now charged with jacking his chains -- Raheem Thomas was arrested again Tuesday night.

Cops booked Raheem, aka Fuzz from Muscle Team Entertainment, for armed robbery and gun possession. Our law enforcement sources tell us cops booked him based on seeing video of the robbery where Fetty's jewelry -- including his 1738 chain -- was stolen.

Additionally ... he was all over social media flaunting Fetty's bling.

We're told officers went looking for Fuzz and when they found him he was packing a handgun with hollow point bullets.

He'd already been booked for aggravated assault and gun possession after his initial arrest.

TMZ obtained video from the Paterson, NJ deli right after the robbery went down ... and it shows Fuzz clearly holding a handgun.

Fetty Wap's crew fired off the only bullets that landed in the shootout after he was robbed -- including a possible self-inflicted gunshot wound ... TMZ has learned.

Eyewitnesses at the scene tell us a member of Fetty's crew fired first at Raheem Thomas' crew in retaliation Sunday morning ... and then that same person allegedly accidentally shot himself in the thigh.

We're told the shooting started after Fuzz and his Muscle Team boys followed Fetty and co. into a Paterson, NJ deli, where things got violent fast. Sources say Fuzz pistol whipped someone in Fetty's camp, and then he and his guys robbed Fetty and his crew on the spot.

That's when a second gun was taken out and shots were fired back and forth ... 2 of which landed on 2 of Raheem's guys. At some point after the initial bloodbath ... we're told the original shooter tried escaping and the gun fired in his waistband, striking him in the thigh.

That account roughly matches up with what cops have told us. As we reported ... 2 men were found in the immediate area of the shootout and were transported to hospitals. A 3rd guy thought to be involved checked himself into another hospital soon after.

Raheem's already been booked for gun possession and assault after showing off Fetty's stolen chain on social media -- but it's unclear if he actually fired in the gun battle, despite being seen with a firearm. Prosecutors in court Monday said they did not believe Raheem had personally fired.

Jodie Sweetin's ex-fiance was just arrested for violating an order requiring him to stay clear of her.

Justin Hodak was arrested in Sherman Oaks, CA Monday ... days after she obtained a restraining order.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Jodie claims earlier this month they had a nuclear fight, exacerbated by what she says was his anger triggered by steroids and alcohol. She says that's when she ended their engagement.

She says he threatened to kill himself with a 9mm pistol if she made him leave. He left the house with a gun, leaving behind an assault rifle. He also threatened suicide by cop.

Jodie got a restraining order requiring Hodak to stay 100 yards away from her, but Monday Jodie called police and reported a suspicious car in front of her house. When cops arrived they saw Hodak drive by, coming just feet from her home, so they stopped the car and arrested him.

Fetty Wap got robbed early Sunday in his hometown, and it sparked a shootout which sent 3 people to the hospital ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the situation tell us Fetty had a chain and cash snatched while he was in Paterson, NJ. Law enforcement sources tell us cops were dispatched to Montclair Ave and Paxton Street around 5 AM over a fight with shots fired. Sure enough, they located 2 guys nearby with gunshot wounds -- 1 was shot in the leg and another in his torso.

A 3rd man thought to be involved checked himself into Hackensack Medical Center soon after. Fetty is not one of the victims.

Law enforcement tells TMZ an investigation is underway into the shooting, but no robbery has been reported. It's unclear whether Fetty was directly involved in the shootout.

Jodie Sweetin called 911 when her now ex-fiance stormed out of their house claiming he wanted to kill himself ... and it led to him going to jail.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Sweetin told them Justin Hodak was out of control after they had a nuclear fight during which she ended the engagement. She said Hodak threatened to kill himself and she was worried he'd make good on his threat.

Cops arrived and spoke with Jodie, who told them he had a gun in one of the bedrooms. Cops retrieved it, ran Hodak's rap sheet and found he was a felon, so possessing a gun was illegal.

We're told Hodak returned home later and cops were waiting. They slapped the cuffs on him and took him to jail.

Hodak bailed out a few hours later.

10:16 AM PT -- Cincinnati police have upped their suspect count to "several" as opposed to one at first. The victim count has also been raised to 16, and the deceased victim has been ID'd as 27-year-old O'Bryan Spikes. Cops have also said this is likely not terrorism related, but rather just a feud between 2 groups that boiled over in the club. No suspects have been named yet.

Law enforcement in Cincinnati is on the hunt for someone who opened fire in a nightclub Sunday morning, killing 1 person ... and leaving 14 others injured.

Police have not released any information as to suspected shooter's identity, and no possible motive has been released either. The shooting took place around 1:30 AM ET at Cameo nightclub.

At first, cops said "multiple shooters" were involved -- but that has since changed to just one suspected shooter.

Several of the victims are in critical condition and undergoing surgery. 2 of those victims have since been released.

Rapper Vic Mensa is facing criminal charges for carrying a loaded gun.

The L.A. County District Attorney's Office is going after Vic for carrying a loaded, unregistered handgun in his car. He'll also be prosecuted for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.

Worst case scenario if convicted ... 2 years in jail.

The Chicago-bred rapper was arrested last month after cops pulled him over for a traffic violation. He confessed to having a gun in the car, which they promptly seized.

Jaime Pressly lost more than $30k in jewelry when burglars broke into her home over the weekend ... we've learned they also made off with a .38 caliber revolver.

The gun raises the stakes in the latest celebrity break-in. The burglars, who entered by breaking a window, got the gun because they stole the safe in which it was stored. It's unclear if they knew a gun was inside.

This is the second safe that was stolen by a celebrity. Nick Young also lost his safe when he was hit last month.

A man faced off with at least 4 cops outside of Catch Saturday night ... and lost hard when they fired their tasers.

Law enforcement sources tell us cops were called to the famous WeHo restaurant to deal with a man with a possible gun. Things escalated quickly when the suspect didn't follow orders ... so they fired.

It's pretty gnarly -- you can hear the guy screaming out "What did I do?!" before he's taken down. Even crazier ... he's got a dog right next to him that's in the mix of the scuffle.

Donald Trump just called out Snoop over his music video, saying if the person in clown face was President Obama, Mr. Dogg would be behind bars.

Trump just tweeted, "Can you imagine what the outcry would be if @SnoopDogg, failing career and all, had aimed and fired the gun at President Obama? Jail time!"

We asked that very question to several rappers and politicians ... Ice-T, for e.g., thought doing the same thing to Obama would be worse. Senator Ted Cruz says whoever the president ... it's the same thing.