CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

NFL star Sheldon Richardson says his days of speeding around in Bentleys are LONG GONE ... and it's all thanks to being a daddy!!

As we previously reported ... cops clocked Richardson speeding at 143 MPH with his 12-year-old nephew in the car when he was a member of the NY Jets back in 2015.

Oh yeah ... and he had a gun in the car.

He was charged with resisting arrest, excessive speeding, failing to obey traffic control device among other violations at the time ... but later copped a plea deal and was given 2 years of probation and 100 hours of community service.

The newest Cleveland Brown reflected on the incident with reporters on Thursday ... saying he's done a lot of growing up and can't be taking those kinds of risks.

"I was 24 in a Bentley, having a good time, that was it," Richardson said ... "I've got a daughter now, so I can't be doing 150 MPH on a highway."

Richardson welcomed his daughter, Riley Rose, back in 2016 ... and he says it completely turned his life around.

"I got a lot to live for."

Of course ... Richardson admitted his mistakes back in 2015 and vowed to make the right moves to get back on track ... and it sounds like he's still holding to his promise.

The crew believed to be responsible for attacking and robbing YBN Almighty Jay and sending him to the hospital are in federal custody, but strangely ... it has nothing to do with the rapper.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... cops have identified a street gang that includes Zae Numbafive as persons of interest in last weekend's assault on Jay. We're told the crew goes by the name "Jack Boyz."

Zae and 3 other Jack Boyz members were arrested Wednesday in the Bronx as part of an unrelated federal investigation ... which is even crazier. The men are facing a charge of attempted murder in the aid of racketeering -- along with firearm charges -- in connection with the shooting of an off-duty NYPD officer. Another member remains at large.

If convicted, they face up to life in prison.

Our sources say the crew was questioned by investigators after their arrest about assaulting Jay as well, and 2 members admitted to being at the scene ... but didn't fess up to any criminal activity.

We're told one of the Boyz also claimed to have past issues with Jay but said they worked it out ... but the rapper denied even knowing the crew.

Our sources say Jay told cops he's willing to cooperate with the investigation now, but doubts he can ID his attackers because there were so many of them. He claims he was robbed of his wallet, $16k in cash, a $20k chain and his shoes in the attack.

As we reported ... J Prince weighed in on the situation by calling out Zae and his crew and putting out an APB to his "mob ties" to nab them. Zae responded by posting a music vid that apparently flaunted Jay's stolen bling.

8:11 AM PT -- Jussie just pled not guilty to the 16-count indictment against him. He was advised he needs to be at every court date going forward, and is set to be back in court in mid-April.

In the meantime, he'll be allowed to travel to L.A. and NY for meetings with his lawyers. He's gotta notify the court 48 hours in advance before going to either location, and also needs to check back in within 24 hours when he returns to Chicago.

Jussie Smollett just showed up to court with the same confidence he had the other day -- the big difference now ... this appearance actually matters, 'cause he's being arraigned.

The "Empire" star once again strutted his way into a Cook County courthouse Thursday with his back straight and his head held high ... just like he did on Tuesday when he showed up for a procedural hearing he technically didn't need to attend.

He's expected to enter a plea one way or another at his arraignment.

As we reported ... a grand jury handed down the whopping 16-count indictment last week nearly two weeks after Jussie was arrested and booked for allegedly filing a false police report. Jussie's attorney, Mark Geragos, called the indictment "overkill."

Regardless of how Jussie pleads ... he may very well have more than his own fate in his hands. Folks working on "Empire" feel like the future of the show will very much be tied to how things shake out for him in court, and could possibly torpedo the series at large.

Here it is ... footage showing Conor McGregor stomping out a cell phone in front of the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami -- and it's LOUD.

You don't only SEE Conor putting his foot down on the phone, you HEAR it -- two thunderous booms as McGregor slams his designer shoe down on the phone around 5 AM Monday morning.

You can also see and hear the alleged victim, Ahmed Abdirzak, plead with McGregor -- "Let me get my phone, man!"

Abdirzak tells TMZ Sports he was just trying to snap a pic of Conor on his cell phone when the UFC star lured him in by appearing to offer a handshake, but instead snatched the phone and smashed it.

As we previously reported, cops were called and eventually located McGregor at a nearby mansion where he was staying with his family.

McGregor was arrested for robbery/strong-arm and criminal mischief over $1,000 (2 felonies) ... but his attorney downplayed the incident, calling it a "minor altercation."

If convicted on both counts, Conor is facing up to 15 years in prison for the robbery/strong-arm charge ... but he doesn't seem too concerned.

In fact, he went out for a jog after he was released from jail.

It's not Conor's first brush with the law -- he was arrested in 2018 for throwing a steel dolly at a UFC bus in Brooklyn.

Two Stanford students who were rejected by Yale and USC have filed a lawsuit against the college bribery ringleader and 8 universities.

Erica Olsen and Kalea Woods are suing Rick Singer -- the man who pulled the strings in the biggest admissions bribery case ever -- along with USC, Stanford, UCLA, University of San Diego, Texas, Wake Forest, Yale and Georgetown. The students allege "unqualified students found their way into the admissions rolls of highly selective universities, while those students who played by the rules and did not have college-bribing parents were denied admissions."

The 2 students are trying to turn this into a class action lawsuit, and presumably recruit others who have been denied admission as a result of bribery and other schemes.

Olsen says she had stellar test scores and athletic talent yet was rejected by Yale. She said had she known "the system at Yale University was warped and rigged by fraud" she wouldn't have applied there. Woods was rejected by USC and said she was never informed "parents could buy their way into the university through bribery and dishonest schemes."

Though both students ultimately got into Stanford, they claim their degrees are now devalued by the criminal racketeering charges.

As we reported ... Singer -- who once shopped a reality show on the pressures of families trying to get their kids into college -- copped a plea Tuesday to racketeering conspiracy, money laundering, tax conspiracy and obstruction of justice for funneling of money to college athletic coaches and administrators in return of helping their kids gain university admissions.

Meek Mill now has TWO holidays named after him in two different cities across the country ... after his hometown of Philadelphia just dedicated an entire weekend to the rapper.

That's right ... Thursday, March 14, 2019, kicks off Meek Mill Weekend in Philly -- which is getting announced today by City Council President Darrell L. Clarke. We're told Clarke will open Thursday's meeting with a city level proclamation bestowing Meek with the honor.

Not only will Meek Mill Weekend be confirmed on a city level, but Pennsylvania State Senator Sharif Street will step right up after him to announce the proclamation on a statewide level.

The official "holiday weekend" runs from Thursday to Saturday. The timing isn't random -- Meek's back in town for the next couple days as his Motivation Tour rolls through Philadelphia.

The reason is pretty much the same one Houston tapped when giving Meek his own day in their city -- contributions to music and art, as well as his philanthropic efforts to change the criminal justice system. Something tells us the Philly proclamation will look something like this.

As you might know ... Meek's been hard at work both in the studio and on the big stage trying to bring people together for criminal justice reform. He's already got some big names in his corner for the cause, and it doesn't look like he's slowing down anytime soon.

Kevin Spacey's back in Hollywood after spending a lot of time -- and facing a criminal charge -- on the east coast, so it begs the question ... is he getting back to work?

The disgraced actor was seen leaving the Sunset Tower Hotel in WeHo Wednesday night, although it looks like he's still trying to keep a low profile.

As we've reported ... Spacey's mostly been hanging out on the other side of the country amid facing a felony charge for allegedly fondling a teenage boy's genitals in Massachusetts back in 2016. He appeared in a Nantucket court in early January to face the charge of indecent assault.

It's unclear if Kevin's returned to Tinseltown to get back into show business or other business, but ever since misconduct allegations began to dog him in 2017 ... he's only lost acting gigs.

Spacey was replaced in the film "All the Money in the World" and got fired from his "House of Cards" job after various stories of sexual misconduct surfaced.

In fact, the only real acting he's done recently came around Christmas time, when he posted a bizarre video defending himself ... in the character of President Frank Underwood.

3:15 PM PT -- Loughlin got the same treatment as her husband ... the judge set her bond at $1 million. Just like Mossimo Giannulli, she was allowed to put their home up as collateral to secure the bond.

She will be allowed to travel to Vancouver and British Columbia, Canada for purposes of work -- that's where she shoots projects for the Hallmark Channel. However, she'll have to surrender her passport in December, once all her contracted work in Canada is completed.

The judge also instructed Loughlin to avoid contact with other suspects and witnesses ... other than her daughters and husband. She'll have to appear in federal court in Boston on March 29 ... along with Mossimo and Felicity Huffman.

Lori Loughlin just surrendered to federal authorities in Los Angeles ... turning herself in after being charged in a massive bribery scam involving some of the country's most elite universities.

Law enforcement sources tell us Loughlin made prior arrangements to meet with FBI Agents Wednesday for her surrender.

As we reported ... the FBI showed up at her doorstep early Tuesday morning, but she wasn't home because she was shooting in Vancouver. FBI agents arrested her husband, Mossimo clothing founder Mossimo Giannulli, who was also indicted in the bribery scam, and made arrangements with Lori's team for her to turn herself in when she got back to L.A.

FBI agents will now take Lori to a federal building where she'll be processed by federal marshals.

As you know ... Lori and Felicity Huffman were among the 50 people indicted for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. Lori and Mossimo allegedly paid $500,000 to have their 2 daughters designated as recruits for USC's crew team, despite the fact the girls didn't actually participate in the sport.

Huffman was arrested Tuesday -- along with Mossimo -- in an operation in Los Angeles. Both were released Tuesday night, but didn't speak with cameras.

Rich the Kid allegedly pulled a prank on his former landlord's attorney who was trying to collect on late rent he owed ... and now she's suing.

Maro Burunsuzyan just filed suit against the NYC MC, claiming Rich posted her phone number publicly on his social media. According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Maro says Rich tweeted on Feb. 14, "Valentines calls me" ... followed by her personal cell.

As a result, Maro claims she was bombarded by at least 500 text messages and multiple phone calls from Rich the Kid fans who thought they were his digits.

As for why Maro believes he did this ... she says she's been hounding Rich in court for damages and late rent she claims he owes for a house her client rented to him this past summer. He moved out in January, and Maro says he's been giving her the runaround.

In the docs, she says she told him on Valentine's Day they were done talking since it was clear he wasn't going to pay her ... and she says he responded with "Oh, really?" Shortly afterward, Maro claims he posted her number and the harassment ensued.

For the record ... the alleged tweet Rich sent appears to have been deleted.

Dwight Howard says allegations he threatened a man for not signing a non-disclosure agreement is pure BS -- telling TMZ Sports he's never even met the person behind the lawsuit.

The NBA star is being sued by Masin Elije -- who claims in a lawsuit filed in Georgia that Howard approached him in Nov. 2018 and asked him to sign an NDA "regarding their communications."

Dwight tells us ... "I don't know this person, never seen him. Any allegation said about me is false."

TMZ Sports obtained a copy of Elije's suit, filed in Georgia. In the documents, Elije does not say what Dwight was allegedly trying to keep quiet -- but says he REFUSED to sign an NDA and tried to end all contact with Dwight.

Elije claims Howard then began acting hostile -- and made "threats on his life."

The lawsuit says ... "Mr. Elije started receiving threats to his safety and well-being via a multitude of phone calls, text messages, communications on various social media platforms and emails, all of which were from unfamiliar or disguised sources."

Elije claims he reached out to Dwight's family members and also police in the hopes of getting the threats to stop ... "all to no avail."

Elije is now suing for assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress -- and he's demanding punitive damages.

BlackSportsOnline first reported the news about Elije's lawsuit.

He's also asking the judge to force Dwight to cover all of his legal expenses -- because he's racked up a fortune in costs due to Dwight's alleged actions.

12:27 PM PT -- A sketch artist caught Manafort in court Wednesday.

10:00 AM PT -- Manafort just got hit with 16 NEW charges in an NYC indictment tied to a mortgage fraud scheme. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. says Manafort will now face 16 felonies for alleged residential mortgage fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records ... to name just a few.

What's that thing about raining and pouring? It's a monsoon for Manafort.

Paul Manafort is nearly doubling his time behind bars -- another judge just sentenced him to an extra 43 months .... nearly 4 more years in the pen.

President Trump's former campaign manager went through his second sentencing Wednesday in D.C., where a judge presided over the criminal case Robert Mueller's office prosecuted. Manafort got an additional 43 months in prison ... on top of the tax and bank fraud sentence he got last week.

You'll recall ... Manafort got 47 months in that matter. This additional time will bring his full prison sentence to 7 1/2 years.

This second case includes 2 conspiracy charges. Federal prosecutors accused Manafort of witness tampering and obstruction of justice after he was released on bail ... saying he urged 2 witnesses to commit perjury in his defense.

That got him sent back to the slammer, where he's been ever since last June. For the record ... Manafort pled guilty to the 2 conspiracy charges.

Manafort apologized for his crimes during Wednesday's sentencing -- he read a statement from his wheelchair, and begged the judge to "let my wife and I be together." He reminded the judge that he is about to turn 70, and his wife is 66.

Manafort actually got sentenced to 73 months, but the judge allowed 30 of them to be served concurrently with the 47 months for fraud.

8:15 AM PT -- The hearing just ended, and R. Kelly's lawyer says there's been no change in child support yet. He says they're setting a new court date to argue the matter.

R. Kelly's back in a court of law, shooting his shot with the judge in his child support case.

The singer and his legal team made their way into the Chicago court Wednesday morning, hoping to score a reduction in his monthly payments to his ex-wife, Drea Kelly.

As you know, Kelly was arrested last week, and sat in jail until he coughed up $161,633 ... the back child support he owed Drea.

Kelly was supposed to be paying Drea $20,833 per month as of January 2009 but he fell way off schedule last year. Sources close to the singer told us he scraped together the $161k with the help of a "benefactor."

As we reported ... Kelly's camp says the singer got into a huge fight with Drea back in 2017 and, after that, she didn't allow their daughter and 2 sons to talk to him.

Drea calls BS ... saying Kelly cut her off as a means of controlling her when she spoke out publicly about him allegedly abusing her.

Ultimately, the child support is the lesser of Kelly's legal issues right now -- with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse in Cook County hanging over his head.

Lori Loughlin's "Full House" and "Fuller House" co-stars John Stamos and Jodie Sweetin are rallying around her ... in maybe the only way they can for now on the heels of her indictment in the college bribery scandal.

We got Uncle Jesse leaving Madeo Tuesday night in Bev Hills -- where our camera guy, of course, asked him about his TV love interest getting busted for allegedly committing bribery and fraud to get her kids into college.

John whipped out a "no comment" real quick, and even though he flashed a peace sign before driving off -- with a sweet doggy bag, BTW -- it's still clear Lori's castmates are concerned.

We got Jodie Tuesday afternoon right after she flew into LAX. She seemed even more upset than John when we asked if she was surprised by the news. Of course she is.

A lot of stunned silence from Lori's pals ... which is kinda how many of her fans feel.

7:58 PM PT -- We just got Felicity and Mossimo after posting bail ... and it was clear they didn't want to talk.

5:28 PM PT -- Multiple law enforcement sources tell TMZ, Lori Loughlin will turn herself in to federal authorities Wednesday morning. The FBI showed up at her doorstep early Tuesday morning, and she was going to receive the same treatment as Felicity. Turns out, Lori was shooting in Vancouver and wasn't there. FBI agents arrested her husband in the college bribery scam, and then made arrangements with Lori's people for her to surrender when she returns to L.A.

Felicity Huffman knew she was a target of the federal investigation into bribery in the college admissions process ... but she had no idea 7 feds would show up at her door Tuesday morning with guns drawn.

Sources familiar with the arrest tell TMZ, 7 FBI agents showed up at Felicity's Hollywood Hills home at 6 AM and drew their weapons as they ordered Felicity to come out and surrender.

We're told Felicity, her husband William H. Macy and their 2 daughters were asleep when the agents ordered her out. Our sources say she knew the arrest was looming and would have gladly surrendered on her own, but the feds saw it differently.

An FBI source familiar with the arrest tells TMZ guns were drawn as a precaution. It's always left to the agents' discretion whether to draw a firearm during an arrest.

The agents took Huffman to a federal building where she was processed by federal marshals.

As we reported, Huffman was indicted for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. The indictment claims Huffman made a charitable contribution of $15,000 to participate in a college entrance exam cheating scheme on behalf of her eldest daughter. The indictment claims the daughter was given twice the amount of time to take the SAT as other students and the paid proctor agreed to secretly correct her answers afterward.

The docs claim the girl got a 1420 score ... approximately 400 points over her PSAT.

Originally published -- 3:40 PM PT

Lucky Whitehead was so wasted during his DUI arrest back in December ... he told cops, "I'm not alright to drive" -- and it's all in police footage obtained by TMZ Sports.

The ex-Dallas Cowboys receiver was pulled over on Dec. 23 in Gainesville, Virginia around 2:12 AM after he ran a red light ... and when cops got him out of the vehicle -- it was clear he was DRUNK.

Whitehead was slurring his words, babbling incoherently and absolutely bombing field sobriety tests. Oh, and he admitted to having beer and mixed drinks before getting behind the wheel.

Lucky ultimately refused a breathalyzer -- despite the cop's repeated warnings it would be an additional charge on his crimes ... but the officer says on video Lucky might have blown a 0.25 if he cooperated!!

26-year-old Whitehead was ultimately hit with FIVE charges for the incident, including DUI, refusing a breath sample, driving without a license, failure to obey a traffic signal and a seat belt violation.

By the way, Lucky tried to (very drunkenly) play the Do you know who I am? card at one point during the stop ... telling cops he's the same guy that was involved in that wild shoplifting arrest mix-up back in 2017.

And, yeah ... the cops didn't care.

YBN Almighty Jay is finally out of a hospital bed but still recovering from multiple stab wounds from a weekend beating that was way worse than what video showed.

Sources close the rapper tell TMZ ... Jay was hospitalized for a couple of days to get treated for injuries sustained Friday after a street fight was followed by a separate attack and robbery later in the night.

We're told Jay was jumped by several guys around midnight in the lobby of a residential building in Manhattan, and after he tried to flee he got dragged back into a more serious assault.

Our sources say along with getting stomped on and having his chains jacked, Jay got stabbed several times with a blade ... and suffered head and facial lacerations when someone cracked a Hennessy bottle over his head.

His face was sliced up so badly, he reportedly required 300 stitches.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... cops responded to a call about a brawl in the lobby around 12:30 AM Saturday, and found Jay bleeding from the face. He was rushed to the hospital and treated for his injuries.

We're told the rapper initially reported the incident but became uncooperative with police when they tried to interview him. A large group of witnesses on the scene also refused to talk to cops.

As we reported ... YBN Almighty Jay's alleged attackers, including Zae Numbafive, are flaunting the rapper's stolen chain in a new music video -- right on the heels of J Prince putting out an APB to his "mob ties" to nab Zae and his crew.

Our sources say the alleged attackers posted on social media about jumping Jay after the incident -- showing off personal items they jacked like his shoes and ID.

Police are still investigating.