CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

The guy who played Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez in "The Sandlot" is now facing serious prison time ... after getting charged in a Halloween night beatdown.

According to docs, Michael Vitar and 2 friends got into a fight with a 22-year-old man who was walking abound their neighborhood and handing out candy to children. The L.A. County D.A.'s Office says the men chased the victim, jumped him and threw him to the ground.

All 3 men were charged with felony assault. LAPD arrested Vitar last week and he was released on $30,000 bail.

After his acting career, Vitar went on to become an L.A. firefighter. The LAFD says Vitar and one of his friends, also a firefighter, have been placed on administrative leave with pay while the case proceeds.

Vitar faces up to 4 years in prison if convicted.

The man who accused famed 'X-Men' director Bryan Singer of sexually assaulting him when he was a teenager has just been sentenced to prison ... for fraud.

Michael Egan was convicted of securities fraud and a judge just decided his home for the next 2 years will be federal prison.

Egan had accused Singer and other Hollywood types of sexually assaulting him multiple times at pool parties and vacation spots when he was a teen. Egan's case was full of holes ... it eventually crumbled and he dismissed his lawsuits.

Kid Ink tells us the incident with Junior was "the second time a fan had jumped on stage during that particular show in Brazil, the first fan almost knocking me over!  In the moment, my security was doing his job of protecting me and ensuring my safety."

He added that his security has been on high alert "due to what happened at The Bataclan in Paris a few weeks ago." Kid apologized for the way it played out and said he never wants to "to see any of my fans hurt or harmed at one of my shows, especially a young fan who has been a real supporter of mine like Junior."

A Kid Ink fan says he'll sue the rapper and his bodyguard, who sent him flying through the air at a recent concert ... UNLESS he gets an apology.

We got footage of 18-year-old Junior Parriera catching major air -- a bird's eye view and from Junior's own phone -- at Ink's Sunday show in Sao Paulo ... and it looks like it hurt. A lot.

Junior tells TMZ he's a huge fan and admits he got lost in the moment when he rushed the stage -- but he thinks the bodyguard, Bigg Chuck, went too far.

Junior says he's already spoken to lawyers and plans to sue Kid Ink and Chuck, more for the public humiliation than his injuries ... which he says were a little back pain and a hurt hip. Still, he says he'll let it be for the price of an "I'm sorry."

"The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman is fighting off alleged squatters like a pack of zombies -- he's suing to stop them from cashing in on his hit show.

According to his lawsuit, Kirkman is going after 5 people who've filed for 'Walking Dead' trademarks to sell everything under the sun. He says they're stealing the brand to promote lipstick, coffee mugs, carpets, candles, and even cigarillos.

The most bizarre one -- Kirkman says someone in NJ wants to open a zombie-themed health food restaurant. 'Cause nothing says healthy living in Jersey ... like undead quinoa.

Criss Angel is aggressively going after his ex-girlfriend, saying she's trying to shake him down for a ton of money by claiming they essentially lived together as husband and wife.

Criss was in a relationship -- it appears for around 4 years -- with Sandra Gonzalez, with whom he got engaged to in 2011. Sandra is now threatening Criss with a palimony lawsuit, alleging they had an agreement that he would support her, just the way a financially successful spouse would support the other.

Criss, who has moved on and married another woman, had his lawyer fire off a letter to Sandra's lawyers, saying his relationship with Sandra was anything BUT hubby and wife. In fact, he says in the years he and Sandra were on and off, he publicly dated another woman.

The lawyer goes on to say Criss and Sandra kept things separate ... separate tax returns, separate bank accounts, and they never held themselves out as husband and wife.

He also says he was extremely generous with her, loaning her money for a failed business, buying her luxury cars, a nose job and taking her on fabulous vacations.

A die-hard Kendrick Lamar fan paid $350 for a backstage meeting, but got banned from the concert after Kendrick's manager tried to bamboozle her for $10,000 ... according to a lawsuit.

Whitney Larkins says she emailed Lamar's manager, Dave Free, asking for 3 minutes of one-on-one time with Lamar ... on top of the $350 VIP meet and greet package she'd purchased. In a lawsuit she filed on her own, Larkins says Free replied she could get the 3 minutes for a "cash payment of $10,000."

The figure didn't scare her off because Larkins says she repeatedly tried to get more info from Lamar's team, which apparently ticked off someone. Larkins says she got an email the night before the concert saying she was banned, and would get her $350 refunded.

Larkins isn't pissed at Lamar, in fact she calls him "one of the greatest rappers alive of all time who is on par with Tupac." But she says Free crushed her dreams and left her with "deep sadness" -- and wants more than $1 million to make it go away.

And the best lawsuit line ever -- she calls Free an "arrogant, snotty and an all-around bad dude from the rooter to the tooter!"

Tyrese just won a huge case against the woman he blasted for taking advantage of his mother -- a verdict that will save him $83,000!

Cynthia Banks wrote a book about Tyrese's mother and her struggles with alcoholism. Tyrese didn't support the project and publicly shamed the author ... who then sued him in Texas for defamation. She initially won a judgement in the case because Tyrese never responded.

Tyrese fought that ruling by filing to have the judgment tossed, and he won it on Monday. He was going to have to pay Banks $83k ... but now he's off the hook.

USC is firing back at Steve Sarkisian -- claiming the ex-football coach repeatedly DENIED he was an alcoholic and resisted the school's effort to get him proper help.

USC's general counsel, Carol Mauch Amir, issued a statement in response to Sark's $30 MILLION wrongful termination and discrimination lawsuit -- calling allegations "patently untrue."

Amir says the school usually doesn't comment on pending litigation, but felt compelled to answer Sark publicly -- ripping him as a liar who has mischaracterized the facts.

"Mr. Sarkisian repeatedly denied to university officials that he had a problem with alcohol, never asked for time off to get help, and resisted university efforts to provide him with help."

"The university made clear in writing that further incidents would result in termination, as it did. We are profoundly disappointed in how Mr. Sarkisian has mischaracterized the facts and we intend to defend these claims vigorously."

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Sark claims SC knew he suffered from alcohol issues back in August when he was reprimanded for an incident at the Salute to Troy event.

Plaxico Burress pled guilty to tax evasion in New Jersey Monday -- but will NOT spend one second behind bars ... TMZ Sports has learned.

As we previously reported, officials in Mercer County, NJ charged the ex-NFL star with two tax crimes for failing to pay $48k in state taxes ... each count carried a maximum 5 year prison sentence under NJ's new ultra-strict tax laws.

But Plax's rep tells TMZ Sports ... Burress struck a plea deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to plead guilty and in exchange he'll serve no jail time.

Instead, Plaxico will do community service and pay penalties -- in addition to repaying the money he initially owed. In fact, we're told Plax has already paid off his financial debt.

Burress' rep tells us the whole thing was a giant misunderstanding -- explaining Plax screwed up when initially tried to pay his taxes online.

"He messed up. He knew he messed up. Everyone cooperated, and Plaxico paid the fine," Plax's rep says.

Gwyneth Paltrow's pop-up Goop store in NYC got hit by 3 crooks who made off with a ton of high-priced gear -- and we found out what they nabbed.

NYPD say the burglary went down Saturday afternoon at Gwyneth's flagship store in Columbus Circle. Cops say the 3 men used some object to pop the locks on cabinets at the location and make a clean getaway with more than $173,000 worth of jewelry!

Our law enforcement sources tell us some of the stolen items include:
- 1 Bvlgari bracelet worth $100k
- 1 David Weiss bracelet worth $40k
- 3 men's Rolex watches worth $23k

We're told 2 of the burglars distracted Goop employees while the third guy jacked the stuff. No suspects yet.

Steve Sarkisian has sued USC -- claiming they did him dirty by firing him as the head coach of the football team instead of getting him help for his alcoholism -- and he wants more than $30 MILLION ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Simon Cowell was home with gf Lauren Silverman and their son Eric when burglars broke into their London mansion and made off with a bunch of cash and jewelry.

The break-in went down early Friday morning, and the thieves made a clean getaway. Cops confirm they were called for a burglary in progress at around 2:20 AM.

Simon and his family were not hurt -- they were reportedly asleep at the time -- and had left the house by the time police arrived to begin their investigation.

Simon attended rehearsals for the 'X Factor' finale on Friday afternoon ... as if nothing had happened. Neither Simon nor police have said how much money the crooks took.

Big Sean was a big fat target when he was out of the country last week, and thieves robbed him blind.

We're told burglars broke into his home in the Valley and made a beeline for the safe, where they grabbed around $150k in jewelry. Sean also had some unpublished music in the mini-vault, which was also stolen.

We're told Sean and his people believe it was an inside job ... they think the thieves knew Sean was in Dubai and had a clear layout of the house.

Five people who were in the Hummer that was part of the fatal crash triggered by Caitlyn Jenner have filed a lawsuit, claiming they were injured both physically and emotionally.

In the lawsuit, obtained  by TMZ, 5 members of the Wolf-Millesi family claim they were all cruising along in their 2006 black H2 Hummer when they felt the thunderous impact of the Lexus that Jenner had just struck. The Lexus driver died instantly.

The lawsuit claims Jenner acted recklessly, driving at an unsafe speed for road conditions. As we reported, the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. concluded Jenner was not paying attention and failed to brake in time ... which caused her to strike the Lexus, which ricocheted into the Hummer.

According to the suit, one person in the car suffered a severe cervical fracture that left her permanently disabled. Another claims severe nerve damage. A third claims blunt force trauma ... but the most serious is there was a one-month-old newborn in the Hummer who was "not responding at the scene." The baby was taken to UCLA Medical Center and survived.

The suit, filed by Spencer Lucas from Panish Shea & Boyle, says, "The emotional effects of being involved in a collision that has taken the life of another has caused tremendous distress and suffering."

The suit does not specify a damage amount.

Migos rapper Offset finally got his walking papers -- and the whole band celebrated outside court after their drugs and weapons case was settled without anyone getting more jail time.

Offset had been held without bail in Bulloch County, GA since his arrest in April for drugs and weapons charges. Offset and prosecutors reached a plea agreement -- he pled guilty to felony inciting a riot in jail, and the battery charge against him was dropped.

He got 5 years probation and credit for time served -- he'd been in for more than 230 days.

Scott Weiland's bandmate Tommy Black has been arrested for possession of cocaine on the tour bus where Scott died.

Police say they found a small quantity of a suspected controlled substance that field tested positive as cocaine in the bedroom where Scott was found.

They also found another small amount of the same substance in an area of the bus occupied by Black ... who is a guitarist for Scott Weiland and The Wildabouts.

Black was arrested and booked for 5th degree felony possession of drugs.