Arrests

Gabbie Gonzalez's father, Francisco Gonzalez -- an injury attorney -- may face punishment by the Florida Bar Association ... which opened a disciplinary file after he was charged with conspiring to have singer Jack Avery murdered.

A spokesperson for the Florida Bar tells TMZ ... "We can confirm that a discipline file has been opened on this matter" -- this after Gonzalez was hit with the criminal charge in Los Angeles County.

This begins a process which could lead to potential discipline down the road, including possibly disbarment ... though it could also end without any punishment should the review board decide punishment is unnecessary.

Netflix viewers met a remorseful Mackenzie Shirilla in Netflix's "The Crash" ... but a former inmate says the real person -- behind bars -- is far different.

Mary Katherine Crowder -- who spent over six months locked up with Shirilla at the Ohio Reformatory for Women -- has been blowing up TikTok with claims that the convicted killer acted more like the "queen bee" of prison than someone haunted by the deadly 2022 crash that killed her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and friend, Davion Flanagan.

Crowder told the NY Post that Mackenzie walked around prison like she was famous ... always glammed up and treating the facility "like a high school popularity contest."

Joseph Duggar says he's got properties he needs to maintain ... but he needs a judge's sign-off -- because they're pretty close to his alleged victim's former home.

Duggar filed a motion to amend the no-contact order restricting his movement earlier this week ... asking the court to let him go to -- and perform maintenance on -- a series of properties he owns.

Duggar says he has a ton of tasks to catch up on ... from mowing and landscaping to painting and deck repair -- but he can't go to some of them under the current terms of the no-contact order because the properties are within 500 feet of where the alleged victim in the case used to live.

Ant Jefe is in hot water with the law ... the "No Jumper" cohost and rapper just landed behind bars after getting arrested for murder ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Jefe was busted by LAPD's elite Robbery-Homicide Division and booked for felony murder.

The artist -- whose real name is Maurice Shelmon, is being held on $1 million bail at the LAPD jail. We've reached out to the LAPD for a narrative about what happened ... so far no word back.

Kendra Duggar is reportedly cutting ties with her own family ... as the legal storm surrounding her and husband Joseph Duggar keeps getting uglier.

According to Us Weekly ... Kendra has stopped communicating with her parents, Paul and Christina Caldwell, while the fallout from Joseph's criminal case continues to ripple through both families.

The outlet reports the Caldwells have already moved out of their home, placed their belongings in storage and are now weighing a possible move out of state. The insider says the family has been under enormous stress ever since Joseph's arrest ... especially after Kendra allegedly cut them off.

Federal agents tore through Gabbie Gonzalez's home to search phones, SD cards, and Apple devices during a raid connected to the alleged murder-for-hire plot to kill Jack Avery ... and TMZ has obtained video and documents from the operation.

The footage of the November 2022 raid shows Gonzalez's then-husband Cody Clayburn outside the home talking to FBI agents, who explained why they were there. You can hear Cody express concern about whether Gabbie -- who was inside the house -- was okay.

According to the documents, obtained by TMZ, agents seized 12 items during the operation ... including a MacBook, several iPhones, SD cards and thumb drives ... suggesting investigators were aggressively hunting for potential digital evidence.

Chud the Builder’s attorney is pushing back hard against accusations he’s racist just for representing the controversial streamer in court.

Attorney Jake Fendley released a lengthy statement after backlash over defending Chud -- legal name Dalton Eatherly -- insisting that representing someone accused of racist behavior does not make him racist himself.

Fendley said he’s represented clients from all walks of life and called it awful that people are labeling him racist over doing his job as a criminal defense attorney. He also pointed to his family history and legal background while defending his decision to take the case.

Influencer Gabbie Gonzalez unsuccessfully tried to get a former MMA fighter to intimidate her baby daddy, Jack Avery ... before she decided to look for a hit man to take him out, according to the criminal complaint. 

According to court docs obtained by TMZ, Gabbie and her pal Kai Cordrey, who is also charged over the alleged scheme to have a hit man kill Jack, went to Dustin Barca, a former professional fighter and boxing trainer. Dustin has a 4-0 record in his pro career. 

Gabbie and Kai tried to convince Dustin on March 23, 2021, to threaten, scare, or force Jack to leave Kauai, per the criminal complaint. 

The alleged plot to kill Jack Avery wasn't supposed to look like a murder at all ... at least according to cops, who say Gabbie Gonzalez talked about making it look like a deadly car crash.

That particular part of the alleged plot is interesting because, as it turns out, Gabbie's accused co-conspirator in the murder for hire plot is her father, Francisco Gonzalez ... who is a longtime personal injury lawyer. Police say Francisco actually bankrolled the alleged hit.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, investigators say a witness told them Gabbie and her friend Kai Cordrey discussed the alleged hit as "potentially going down in Los Angeles and being made to look like a car accident."

Rough day for TikTok star Gabbie Gonzalez ... she was hit with three criminal charges as part of an alleged conspiracy to kill her famous baby daddy singer, her bail was set at $2 million and she's barred from going near her 7-year-old daughter.

Gabbie just went in front of a judge in a Los Angeles County courthouse. She was cuffed and in a blue hoodie and her family watched as a judge scheduled a Thursday arraignment.

Prosecutors allege Gabbie cooked up a murder-for-hire plot with her father, Francisco Gonzalez, while she was going through a nasty custody battle with boy band singer Jack Avery. A judge also issued a protective order preventing her from contacting him or their kid.

Influencer Gabbie Gonzalez's estranged husband appears to be celebrating her arrest for an alleged conspiracy to kill the father of her child, and her former nanny/roommate is also a key witnesses in the case.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, McKenzie Ferry and Cody Clayburn are witnesses who spoke to cops investigating the case ... and told them boy band singer Jack Avery was the target.

A source with direct knowledge tells us ... McKenzie is the former live-in nanny for Gabbie ... and she first alerted authorities to the alleged murder-for-hire plot back in 2021.

Steve Shirilla is pushing back on the firestorm surrounding Netflix's documentary about his daughter ... insisting his comments about marijuana were twisted and people have misunderstood what he was trying to say.

Check it out ... Steve joined us on “TMZ Live” after being placed on paid leave from his Ohio Catholic school teaching job following backlash over "The Crash" ... centered around his daughter, Mackenzie Shirilla, who was convicted of murder in the 2022 crash that killed her boyfriend Dominic Russo and friend Davion Flanagan.

A major point of controversy has been Steve's remarks in the doc about Mackenzie smoking marijuana as a teenager ... but he says that interpretation is off base ... telling us the filmmakers condensed days of interviews into a few short sound bites and left out important context.

5:16 PM PT -- The TRO was granted by the court following Tuesday's hearing.

Jack Avery says his ex, TikTok influencer Gabbie Gonzalez, is being accused of conspiring to hire a hitman to kill him ... and now he's seeking court ordered protection from her and sole legal and physical custody of their daughter.

The former boy band singer beelined it to court Tuesday and filed for a temporary restraining order against Gabbie, who was arrested Friday as part of an alleged murder-for-hire plot.

Jack claims the FBI told him Gabbie, her father Francisco, and her friend Kai Cordrey, conspired to hire a hitman to have him whacked ... and now that she's been busted, he wants Gabbie nowhere near him or their 7-year-old, Lavender.  He says having sole custody rights would allow him to get a therapist for the kid to help her process everything.

12:21 PM PT -- Jack Avery beelined it to court Tuesday and filed for a temporary restraining order against Gabbie Gonzalez.

TikTok influencer Gabbie Gonzalez will be charged in an alleged conspiracy to kill the father of her daughter ... boy band singer Jack Avery, and TMZ has learned her father is also in custody for the alleged plot.

Law enforcement sources tell us Gonzalez will be arraigned Tuesday in L.A. County for conspiracy to commit murder. We've also learned her father, Francisco Gonzalez, was arrested Monday in Florida, and booked for the same crime.

According to the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept ... Gabbie was in a nasty custody battle with Jack over their 7-year-old daughter, Lavender, and Gabbie's father also got involved in the dispute.

One witness told cops ... Francisco had said it would be cheaper if Jack were dead.

Jack is a former member of the boy band Why Don't We.

Kim Scott's not letting her newest legal trouble get her down ... because she's grinning through it -- flashing a huge smile in her mug shot.

We've obtained the booking photo of Eminem's ex-wife, taken last week ... which features Scott, arms crossed, with a smile on her face. Tattoos on the side of her neck and on her wrist are clearly visible in the pic.

Her hair is bleached blonde -- perhaps not quite as light as The Real Slim Shady's ... but certainly reminiscent of her ex-husband's iconic look.

Joseph Duggar scored a big win in his Florida criminal case ... because a judge signed off on letting his legal team grill the investigators involved in the child abuse probe.

According to new court docs, obtained by TMZ, a Florida judge ruled Monday that Duggar's attorneys can depose witnesses tied to the investigation -- including reps from the Department of Children & Families, the Child Protection Team and the Children's Advocacy Center -- even though many of those records are typically protected by confidentiality laws.

The order also forces agencies involved in the case to turn over evidence the prosecution could use at trial ... including videos, audio recordings, reports and physical evidence. Duggar's defense team will now be allowed to view, examine, and copy that material that may be used by prosecutors before the case heads to trial.