CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

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.

Seconds after Nia Long insisted she has NO beef with Taraji P. Henson, some fresh beef was served up ... on the windshield of her Porsche.

Nia was out in Bev Hills Tuesday with a throng of paps, including our guy who asked her how she and Taraji left things. She has a much different memory of the situation from others on the "Empire" set.

You gotta see the funny part of this though -- Nia escaping a jaywalking ticket, only to get nailed by the parking meter man. She tries to talk her way out of it.

Harrison Ford should have been forced to re-prove himself as a pilot ... according to some FAA investigators who feel the actor got off too easy for his taxiway landing.

Ford was cleared Monday by the FAA for the February mishap in which he buzzed a 737 jet and put his single engine plane down on the taxiway at John Wayne International Airport in Orange County, CA.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ the FAA inspector and managers who made the decision were unanimous ... no discipline or further action was appropriate.

We're told not everyone at the Agency agreed -- some aviation inspectors feel 74-year-old Harrison should have been ordered to take what's called a "709 ride" ... where an inspector re-examines a pilot's skills.

The feeling is Harrison might have gotten preferential treatment because he's a celebrity, but his lawyer, Steve Hofer, tells TMZ Ford was put through the ringer, and any notion of preferential treatment is ridiculous.

Hofer says Ford went for a meeting at the FAA with multiple inspectors and was grilled. He was asked "hard questions" and shown video, computer simulations, radar data and listened to audio of the incident ... and faced questions about his decisions.

Hofer says the FAA required Ford to engage in airman counseling, where he was given materials to review on pilot protocol and safety. He was then ordered back for a second meeting where he was quizzed on the materials. The process took a number of hours and Hofer says the inspectors were so tough he wasn't sure what they'd recommend.

And Ford's lawyer adds, Ford has been flying for more than 20 years ... a 709 ride was unnecessary ... especially after inspectors were satisfied with the airman's counseling.

Ian Gregor of the FAA tells us, "The way we resolved this case is consistent with FAA policy."

Artie Lange will not be charged with drug possession, despite a police report which says he had several bags of suspected heroin and coke.

TMZ reported Artie was arrested at his New Jersey apartment building last month after cops found heroin in his parked car. At the time, cops say they also found drugs on his person.

Artie was booked on 2 counts drug possession, but now prosecutors have nixed that offense. He's been charged with 3 counts of "disorderly persons" -- it's still a drug offense, but way less serious than possession. They're the equivalent of misdemeanors.

It's interesting ... Artie was not charged with drug possession because he wasn't in the car when cops arrived, and therefore it's difficult to prove the drugs were his. It's unclear why he was not charged with drug possession for the heroin police said they found on his person.

The maximum penalty in this case for disorderly persons is 6 months in county jail. If he were charged with possession the maximum sentence would be 5 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.

Michael Irvin says he did NOT have any sort of sexual relations with the person accusing him of sexual assault ... telling TMZ Sports he treated the woman like family in the years before the incident.

Irvin appeared on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs tonight on FS1) and said he's NEVER had any sort of sexual relationship with his accuser ... including on the night in question.

"She was like my niece ... a good friend," Irvin said. "I was hurt to hear about [the allegation]."

As we previously reported, Irvin is being investigated for allegedly sexually assaulting a 27-year-old woman in his Florida hotel room on March 21. Irvin says he believes video evidence will prove his innocence.

Hunter and Kathleen Biden's push to keep their divorce battle out of the public eye has been shot down by the judge ... TMZ has learned.

According to docs obtained by TMZ, Joe Biden's son and daughter-in-law claim they and their kids are public figures, and if details of their divorce get out ... it could be "damaging and embarrassing" to the family. Hence the request to seal the case.

The court called B.S., saying if the estranged couple wanted to keep it on the DL, they shouldn't have included the sordid allegations in the initial divorce petition, which was filed publicly. The judge says in docs, "Sealing those documents now will not erase any embarrassment the parties or their children may have already experienced."

You'll recall ... each accused the other of cheating, and she said Hunter blew all their money.

Michael Irvin says he did NOT sexually assault a woman at a Florida hotel -- and claims his legal team has video evidence that will prove his innocence.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... a 27-year-old woman accused Irvin of sexually assaulting her at a hotel in Florida on March 21.

Irvin says the allegations are the devil's work -- "He is trying to shake my faith in people. I can not let him prevail."

As for the video, Irvin says surveillance footage from the hotel will show him and his accuser leaving the room together ... "There was no one passed out in that room."

Irvin says he hasn't spoken with the accuser since the alleged incident and she told him she doesn't remember the details of the evening in question.

"I do remember," Irvin says ... "Nothing happened."

Irvin says the woman had been a friend for a long time before the incident and he would never do anything to harm her.

Mel B has detailed horrific abuse she allegedly suffered over a period of years at the hands of her estranged husband, Stephen Belafonte.

Lisa Marie Presley's estranged husband arranged for paparazzi to make him look like a doting dad ... so claim people connected to Lisa Marie.

Michael Lockwood was photographed at a flea market Sunday with their twin girls. Sources connected with Lisa Marie tell us Lisa Marie is convinced this was a setup ... that paparazzi didn't just happen to find him. She believes he called them to make it appear he's an involved dad ... something she believes is fiction.

The kids are currently living with their grandma, Priscilla Presley, while the Dept. of Children and Family Services investigates allegations Michael had inappropriate pictures on his computer. Lisa Marie was struggling with substance abuse issues so Priscilla is now the day-to-day guardian.

Lisa Marie filed for divorce last June and asked for sole legal and physical custody. Michael responded by saying he wanted joint custody. For now, he gets monitored visits.

We reached out to Michael's lawyer ... so far, no word back.

Mel B says she has been the victim of horrific brutality at the hands of husband Stephen Belafonte for nearly a decade, and lots of people around her saw her injuries but it appears most of them bought her stories that made no sense.

TMZ broke the story, Mel B got a restraining order Monday against Belafonte, claiming he beat her, choked her and threw her to the ground on multiple occasions. According to the documents, after an alleged beating in 2012 over Belafonte's jealousy of Usher, producers of 'X Factor' (Australia) noticed swelling on her face and asked for a physician. She claimed it was an allergic reaction to shellfish and according to the document, the doctor on set bought her story.

She was also forced to miss a filming of 'X Factor' (UK) in late 2014 because her injuries were so bad they could not be covered by theatrical makeup. When she finally returned, she still had visible facial and body wounds yet no one sounded the alarm.

Around the same time, things got so bad, Mel B tried to take her own life by swallowing an entire bottle of Aspirin. She had a change of heart, tried calling 999, but she says Belafonte prevented her from doing so. At some point she says her friend, Randy, came over but Belafonte forced him to leave. Randy called an ambulance but Belafonte turned it away. Authorities were not alerted.

The next day, her driver showed up to take her to work and saw such extensive injuries he took her to the hospital, where she spent 2 days with security standing guard outside her room to keep Belafonte away. Yet authorities again were not alerted.

She returned again to 'X Factor' (UK) with visible facial and body wounds, which producers attempted to cover up. Again, authorities not called.

When she was back in L.A. she told 'X Factor' "employers" she had attempted suicide to escape from the abuse at the hands of Belafonte. She says they offered assistance to get her away from Belafonte, but it appears authorities were not contacted and she went back to living with him.

Mel B says throughout the years, Belafonte would harass and intimidate her agents, producers and co-stars, and they complained to her he was "abusive and demanding," and he was adversely affecting her business ... but again, it appears authorities were not contacted.

Belafonte tells TMZ he questions the motives of her accusations.

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.

PEG tells us Adore's allegations are "categorically inaccurate in every regard, including [Adore's] income, expenses and PEG's commissions." The managers insist they "would never take actions that are adverse to the careers of our artists" ... and they're confident the suit will be tossed.

Drag queen Adore Delano from "RuPaul's Drag Race" says he should be a multi-millionaire, but his management stole almost everything out from under his powdered nose.

In a lawsuit, Adore says he earned $2.5 million over the past 3 years -- mostly off 2 hit singles and hundreds of concerts -- but only walked away with $300k. He believes his managers at Producer Entertainment Group conspired with his record label, and others, to embezzle his hard earned dough.

Adore says he's found multiple examples of PEG nickel-and-diming him, often taking as much as 70% of his appearance fees and other revenue streams. According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the management team threatened to "destroy his career" if Adore continued questioning his finances.

He's suing for $1 million in lost wages, and another $2.5 mil in punitive damages.

Bill Cosby's hanging on to his sense of humor, apparently, as his sexual assault trial gets closer -- 'cause he was laughing it up Monday outside court.

Cosby was chuckling with his lawyers as they left the Montgomery County Courthouse. He was there to iron out details about what the jury will hear when his trial starts for allegedly drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004. It's set to begin in early June, and last about 2 weeks.

Roman Polanski just lost his bid to return to the United States without fear of prison.

Polanski's lawyer, Harland Braun, has asked an L.A. County Superior Court judge to unseal a secret transcript of the testimony of the prosecutor in the Polanski case, proving the original trial judge back in 1978 accepted a plea deal for a 48-day sentence ... this for raping a 13-year-old girl.

Polanski served the time but the judge denied he ever accepted the deal and was considering a 50-year prison sentence. The famed director went on the lam and has been living in Europe ever since.

Braun made the case his client -- who was married to Manson murder victim Sharon Tate -- was also jailed in Switzerland for 334 days. A Polish court said all tolled, Polanski had served his time and Braun wanted the new judge to accept that ruling so the 83-year-old director could return to the U.S.

The new judge did not agree, saying Polanski had no right to gripe about the sentence when he was in contempt of court for fleeing the country decades ago.

Young Thug's off the hook for a felony drug charge, thanks to his lawyers arguing cops overstepped boundaries with an illegal search warrant.

You'll recall the rapper's crib was raided by cops in Sandy Springs, GA in July 2015 ... turning up weapons and drugs. Thug was charged with felony cocaine possession, felony marijuana possession and 3 counts of felony gun possession.

Since then, the D.A. had dropped all but the marijuana charges. YT's lawyers argued that should be kicked out too, because cops conducted the search without a proper warrant. The judge agreed ... giving YT total victory.

We reached out to the D.A. for comment, but so far no word back.