CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

12:11 PM -- Felicity's also gone up before a judge and said she understood the seriousness of the charges. She had already surrendered her passport. So with that, she's also done. That was fast.

12:01 PM -- Lori and Mossimo have just appeared before a judge and both have surrendered their passports. The actress reportedly said hi to the prosecuting team, smiled and shook their hands. Lori and Mossimo are now done with their part of Wednesday's hearing.

11:03 AM PT -- Lori Loughlin just showed up to the Boston courthouse, and was quick to get inside. She avoided answering any questions from reporters, but was also met by some fans cheering, waving, and carrying Lori cutouts with them.

Lori gave a quick wave before marching into court.

Felicity Huffman has just arrived to face a judge for her involvement in the massive college bribery scandal.

The "Desperate Housewives" actress appeared in a federal courthouse in Boston Wednesday where she -- along with other parents including Lori Loughlin -- will reportedly know more about the conditions of their release.

As we first reported ... Lori and Felicity could cut plea bargains but prosecutors wanna see the parents do time behind bars. As one official told us, "You can't have people being treated differently because they have money. That's how we got to this place. Every defendant will be treated the same."

Lori and Felicity face up to 5 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

As we reported ... Felicity and Lori -- recorded on wiretapped calls discussing the scheme with ringleader William Rick Singer -- are accused of paying bribes to help get their kids into elite schools.

Felicity and her husband, William H. Macy, allegedly paid $15k to participate in a college entrance exam cheating scheme on behalf of their eldest daughter, Sophia Grace, who was given twice the amount of time to take the SAT as other students. The feds say the proctor corrected her answers. She scored 1420 on her SAT ... an improvement of approximately 400 points over her PSAT.

Lori and her hubby, Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of paying a whopping $500k to have their 2 daughters -- Isabella and Olivia -- designated as recruits for the crew team at USC ... even though they were never actually on any crew team. Mossimo allegedly sent Singer pics of the girls on rowing machines to make it look like they were indeed athletes.

On the morning the indictment was announced, 7 FBI agents showed up to Felicity's home with guns drawn and arrested her. The feds also showed up to Lori's home but she was in Vancouver. Mossimo was nabbed and later released. Lori surrendered the next day.

47 others were also caught up in the massive college bribery scandal the feds dubbed Operation Varsity Blues. The parents are accused of paying off Rick Singer ... the alleged ringleader who created a fake nonprofit, charitable foundation that served as a front to launder the payments.

The feds also said Singer -- who pled guilty to racketeering charges -- allegedly instructed the parents they could write off the alleged bribes as tax-deductible"donations" ... to his nonprofit.

According to court records, the actresses and others allegedly paid as much as $6.5M to get their kids into various schools ... including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown and USC. In all, the feds uncovered about $25M in bribes.

Lori -- out on $1 million bond -- was mum when paps got her out the other day leaving a yoga session. The fallout from the scandal was immediate. Loughlin's girls withdrew from USC and Loughlin lost gigs with "Fuller House" and Hallmark.

Nelly will NOT face criminal charges for an alleged sexual assault in the UK, and it appears it's because the accuser's no longer talking to cops.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Nelly will no longer be questioned, and police have told him no further action will be taken. While the investigation is not officially closed, we're told detectives are not actively investigating. If new information comes to light, Essex Police could review it and go from there ... but, as of now, Nelly's off the hook.

As for the why? The accuser's attorney, Karen Koehler, tells TMZ ... "We told the Essex police we would no longer participate in their shoddy investigation and shifted our focus to the federal lawsuit where we will wait on the judge to decide that outcome." The accuser filed a lawsuit as Jane Doe back in November.

We broke the story ... Nelly's accuser put Essex Police on blast claiming they dragged their feet on the case while treating her like a suspect instead of a victim. She accused him of masturbating in front of her and forcing his penis in her mouth after one of his concerts in 2017.

NFL star Michael Bennett is set to have his felony charge dropped in his injury to elderly case ... 'cause prosecutors flat-out admit they don't have enough proof to convict him of a crime.

Bennett was indicted by a Harris County, TX Grand Jury after being accused of pushing a 66-year-old female NRG Stadium employee who was controlling access to the field at Super Bowl 51 in February 2017.

Cops claimed Bennett -- who was on his way to celebrate his brother's Super Bowl win over the Falcons -- shoved a paraplegic woman's wheelchair as she tried to prevent him from getting to the field.

At the time ... cops said Bennett yelled, "I could own this mother f***er!" before he allegedly pushed her and injured her shoulder.

The charge was a big deal ... the New England Patriots pass rusher was facing YEARS behind bars -- the charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.

But, prosecutors say "after looking at all the evidence and applying the law, a crime could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."

Prosecutors say they conducted an EXTENSIVE investigation -- including viewing surveillance tapes -- and ultimately decided to request to drop the case against the 33-year-old.

Nipsey Hussle was in the middle of a good deed right before he was gunned down in front of his store ... where he was trying to help out an old friend who just got out of prison.

Sources connected to Nipsey tell TMZ ... the reason he was at his Marathon Clothing store Sunday is because he was trying to hook up his ex-con pal with some new gear so he could look good before meeting up with his own family and friends later in the day.

We're told Nipsey's friend had just walked out of the pen after 20 years behind bars.

Our sources say Nipsey didn't notify his team or his primary security guard he'd be going to the store solo -- it was a spur of the moment thing ... we're told no one in his camp was aware he'd left home.

Nipsey's friend is one of the other two people who were injured in Sunday's shooting -- we're told the third guy was the friend's nephew, who drove him to Marathon Clothing.

We broke the story ... a man walked up on Nipsey and co. and fired multiple rounds before fleeing in a waiting car. The shooter circled back to shoot Nipsey multiple times, not to mention kicking him in the head before leaving. Nipsey died from his wounds.

Police have identified 29-year-old Eric Holder as the suspected gunman -- who they finally brought into custody Tuesday after a 2-day manhunt.

Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman could cut plea bargains if they want 'em -- but they wouldn't be getting off easy ... because prosecutors want prison time, TMZ has learned.

Federal law enforcement sources tell TMZ, any plea would come with a recommendation by prosecutors that the actresses serve some time behind bars. The official told us, "You can't have people being treated differently because they have money. That's how we got to this place. Every defendant will be treated the same."

Prosecutors will not have the final word if the cases are plea bargained. The U.S. Attorney would make a recommendation to the judge, but the judge has the final word.

Lori and Felicity each face a maximum of 5 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.

Our sources say it is "likely" plea bargain discussions will begin, but we're told no plea deal has been made.

Lori and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, have been accused of paying ringleader Rick Singer $500,000 to get their daughters into USC by falsely claiming they would participate in the crew team.

Felicity is accused of paying Singer $15,000 to rig her daughter's SAT test.

50 people have been charged in the alleged scams, and we're told more indictments are expected.

Nipsey Hussle's alleged murderer, Eric Holder, is going to be behind bars for a long time, and he'll be there all alone -- 'cause cops are afraid he'll be offed in jail.

As you know, LAPD picked up Holder from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department station in Lakewood Tuesday and took him to a police station in South L.A. -- and law enforcement sources tell us he's currently being held in solitary confinement.

We're told police refuse to let Holder mingle with the general population, because they believe he's a target. As it is, cops were in a race to arrest him before someone on the street took him out. Our sources also say he'll remain in solitary once he's transferred to L.A. County Jail while awaiting trial.

BTW, if there's any doubt about him seeing the light of day before his trial ... a judge set Holder's bail early Wednesday morning at $7,040,000.

As we reported ... Holder -- who goes by the street name, Shitty Cuz -- was located and captured in the Lakewood area Tuesday, where he was cuffed by cops and later ID'd by the LAPD.

Famed makeup artist Jeffree Star got his warehouse ransacked by burglars, and the heist is hitting him hard ... as in millions of dollars worth of stolen goods.

Jeffree revealed on his YouTube page Tuesday a warehouse he uses in L.A. to store a bulk of his makeup line was broken into last month ... and virtually stripped clean by "black market" peddlers.

He says they made off with upwards of $2.5 million of his stuff -- and the break-in appears to be a 6-man operation. The majority of stolen goods were from his skincare concealer line.

The break-in was even more elaborate than what it sounds like. Sources familiar with the case tell TMZ the burglars cut a hole through the roof of Jeffree's warehouse to get in, and also used the rear door somehow. We're told thousands of lip liners were jacked, among other items.

They definitely trashed the place too, as you can see in the photos we got.

Jeffree says he's been working with cops and the feds to catch the crooks.

Law enforcement sources tell us the burglary went down in mid-March, and that investigation is still ongoing. There are no suspects who've been identified yet.

We're told this does not appear to be connected to a string of other high-profile makeup heists that have happened in L.A. lately.

The makeup mafia ... apparently it's a thing.

We reached out to the FBI, but they told us they couldn't confirm an investigation.

9:35 AM PT -- Tom's daughter, Adria, has filed a petition with probate court, accusing Dana of ignoring 2 of Tom's wishes as laid out in his will.

According to Adria's docs, Tom's will gives her and her sister, Annakim, equal input on decisions regarding the Estate ... and Dana's standing in their way. Also, Adria claims Dana was required to transfer Tom's "artistic property" assets out of his trust, and into a separate company that would be jointly administered by all 3 women.

Adria claims Dana's refused to make that transfer ... thereby allowing her to keep sole control of the assets. She wants a judge to force Dana to comply with Tom's will.

Tom Petty's widow claims the late singer's 2 daughters are attacking members of Tom's group, The Heartbreakers, and refusing to put out his unreleased tracks.

Dana York Petty claims in new court docs she's the one who runs the Estate but, for some reason, Tom insisted his 2 daughters from a previous marriage -- Adria and Annakim Petty -- be included in the decision-making process.

Dana says the daughters have conspired to push her out and adds they're making it impossible to manage the Estate.

As for the unreleased tracks, Dana claims in the lawsuit, filed by attorney Adam Streisand, both daughters, but mostly Adria, have gone off the rails ... directing their anger at everyone in Tom's orbit, including the surviving members of The Heartbreakers.

Dana points to an email directed at the surviving members -- Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell -- in which Adria rants, "What I don't have the temperament for is having my entire life raped. Being disparaged. My dad being disgraced. And being surrounded by selfish, unreliable people and drug addicts."

She goes on ... "I am sorry i am not a man and can not earn your respect through the work and deeds I do." And, the daughters are blocking the release of new solo tracks that Petty had recorded 25 years ago. Dana says she wanted to include the tracks in a 25th-anniversary box set release of his smash hit album, "Wildflowers."

Dana claims the release would produce upwards of a million bucks in royalties ... possibly more, but the daughters have blocked it. The suit claims Adria gave no real reason for her objection, other than to say the timing was off.

And, there's this ... Tom had a deep connection to the city of Gainesville, Florida, where he was born. The City renamed a park in Tom's honor and asked someone in the Estate to create artwork for a sign. The rep submitted a well-known image of Tom from one of his album covers.

The lawsuit claims Adria approved the artwork, only to later fire off an email to the rep, saying, "Your name is not Petty and you don't have the backbone to protect the estate from a horrible image like this one. Shame on you."

Dana wants an order from the judge asking him to appoint a day-to-day manager for the Estate, and to force Adria, in particular, to act rationally.

Tom died in 2017 of an accidental drug overdose.

Richie Incognito struck a deal in his funeral home threats case -- the one where he allegedly went berserk in a mortuary last summer -- and will avoid time behind bars ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We broke the story ... the ex-Buffalo Bills OL was arrested in Arizona last August after he allegedly threatened to shoot staffers in a funeral home following the death of his father.

Witnesses allege the 6'3', 320-pound ex-NFL star blew up on mortuary employees ... threatening to damage property and telling them he had guns in his truck.

When cops came ... Richie denied the allegations -- but they arrested the 35-year-old anyway ... booking him for disorderly conduct and threatening/intimidating people.

But, Richie cut a deal with prosecutors last week to have two of his charges -- threats and damage to property -- dropped in exchange for pleading guilty to disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.

Richie's punishment? We're told he was hit with 11 months of probation and a 90-day suspended jail sentence ... which means he won't have to serve a day behind bars if he does a mental health evaluation and completes anything recommended after that.

Incognito also has to pay fines, fees and restitution ... and isn't allowed to have firearms or visit the mortuary during his probation period.

9:50 AM PT -- A source connected to J Lo tells us 'WoD' was floating around NBC years ago -- it was the network's concept and they brought it to Jennifer.

Jennifer Lopez pulled a sneaky 1-2 step to get her hit TV show, "World of Dance," on the air ... at least according to a guy who claims she stole the idea -- but his story's got some holes.

Alvin Gray-El is suing J Lo claiming 'WoD' is a total rip from an idea he first pitched to renowned choreographer Debbie Allen. In docs, obtained by TMZ, Alvin claims he faxed Debbie a copy of his idea back in 2009. His reality show was supposed to be entitled, "Let's Start the Dance."

Alvin, however, says he never heard back from Debbie, whom he's also suing.

The following year, according to docs, Alvin registered his show idea with the U.S. Copyright Office -- but was told about 7 years later ... there was already a similar show being produced by J Lo and NBC.

Alvin claims he fired off a letter to NBC telling them the show J Lo's producing is his original pitch from years ago he made to Debbie. But, he says he got zero response.

BTW, Debbie has nothing to do with J Lo's show. Assuming she actually got Alvin's fax all those years ago, Alvin's lawsuit never explains how his idea jumped from Debbie to Jennifer.

In any event, he's now suing both of them for $6.5 million in damages. We've reached out to J Lo's camp and Debbie's ... so far no word back.

Someone was out to kill Nipsey Hussle just days before he was murdered ... and those working with him were warned as such, and took extreme measures to protect him.

Nipsey filmed a music video Thursday for an upcoming song he, DJ Khaled and John Legend collaborated on called "Higher." The track will appear on Khaled's upcoming album.

Sources on the Inglewood set tell TMZ ... there was great concern over Nipsey's safety during the shoot ... specifically over the parking structure the crew used to film. Our sources say the production team wanted the entire structure shut down so that only folks working the shoot would have access.

We're told production only booked the top two floors of the parking structure. People were able to park underneath the top floors.

More shocking ... our sources say the production hired 10 armed police officers because of concerns over Nipsey's safety. It's unclear why, but we're told they were scared someone would try sneaking on set and killing him.

Seems the protection worked ... our sources tell us things went off without a hitch.

Of course, just a few days later ... Nipsey was gunned down in front of his own storefront, no less. Just hours before the shooting, Nipsey cryptically tweeted about "enemies."

Police are still looking for the shooter, who's only been described as a black male in his 20s. Cops have said they suspect the killing might be gang-related.

Nipsey was only 33. RIP

It's officially open season on Jussie Smollett ... and Tracy Morgan is picking up where Chris Rock left off -- ripping the "Empire" star for a barely believable story about the alleged racist attack.

Tracy opened a fresh can of Jussie jokes ... saying he knew it was BS all along because "racist people don't be jumping nobody in a polar vortex." As he put it during his "Tonight Show" appearance ... there's no need to freeze your ass off when you can be racist in the spring!!!

He's also got beef with Smollett's Subway sandwich ... watch for his punchline.

The bust-on-Jussie train started rolling down the tracks Saturday night at the NAACP Image Awards, where Rock unloaded with the simple line ... "What a waste of light skin!!! You know what I could do with that light skin? I'd be f**king running Hollywood!"

Smollett walked on the 16 felony counts, but it's obvious comedians ain't gonna be as kind as Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx.

Grant Gustin -- the guy who plays "The Flash" on the hit CW series -- wasn't so quick on his feet when he needed to find a way to relax while on a flight to Canada ... 'cause his plan went up in smoke.

We're told Grant was aboard Compass Airlines Flight 6006 Sunday night from LAX to Vancouver, sitting in first class. When the plane -- carrying 68 passengers -- leveled off, Grant headed straight to the bathroom and allegedly put his vaping pen to serious work.

Witnesses tell us the smoke coming outta the bathroom was so intense, it set off a smoke alarm after seeping into the cockpit ... where the captain and co-pilot were forced to wear oxygen masks.

Our sources say Grant -- who has also appeared on "Glee" and "Supergirl" -- copped to vaping. According to witnesses, he wanted to relax during the flight. We're told the flight attendants confiscated his vape without incident.

We're told the plane was NOT diverted ... and after landing in Vancouver, Grant was kept on the plane where he was met by Canadian authorities. As you probably know ... vaping on a flight is a huge no-no, but luckily for Grant, he was let off with a warning.

A rep with Compass Airlines tells TMZ ... flight 6006, "experienced a smoke indicator from the forward lavatory while in flight. A vaping pen was confiscated from a cooperative passenger. The flight landed safely in Vancouver, without delay."

We reached out to Grant's rep, who had no comment.

Nipsey Hussle's brutal murder is putting cops on high alert for gang retaliation ... and police are desperate to keep the peace and prevent further bloodshed.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... LAPD has serious concerns the fallout from the rapper's murder will lead to more deaths, and they're planning to step up patrols near Crenshaw and surrounding neighborhoods to curb gang violence and revenge killings.

We're told police will be relying on gang intervention officers to work with local communities, and those officers will be tasked with trying to calm people down. Officers won't just be hitting the streets in Nipsey's community ... our sources say LAPD is sending extra manpower to rival hoods as well.

We broke the story ... Nipsey was shot to death Sunday afternoon outside his store in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, just south of Crenshaw, and we're told the killing appears to be gang-related.

4:05 PM PT -- A longer version of the surveillance video shows the shooter -- the man in the dark shirt -- opening fire 3 separate times on Nipsey Hussle. He shoots Nipsey once ... starts walking away ... then comes back a second time and shoots again, and then a third time.

After the third time, he kicks Nipsey and flees back toward the alley ... where we initially saw him enter the video.

Multiple sources tell us before the shooter unloaded, he had a tense convo with Nipsey. We're told Nipsey asked him if he had snitched to cops in the past because that was the word on the street.

We're told the suspect felt disrespected, left to get a gun ... then returned to get revenge.

Nipsey Hussle's murder happened in view of a nearby surveillance camera -- and the footage could give police a lead in their search for the trigger man.

TMZ obtained this footage from a business adjacent to Nipsey's The Marathon Clothing store. On the left side of the screen ... you can see someone in a red shirt enter the frame from an alleyway, walking quickly toward the front of the store.

The actual shooting is hard to make out, but you can see a victim collapse to the ground, and several people fleeing the area. It's unclear if the gunman is one of those people running from the scene -- but the footage makes it clear there were several witnesses to the shooting.

Also worth nothing ... while everyone's fleeing, you do NOT see the person in the red shirt running out of the lot.

We also don't know if the victim you see on the ground is definitely Nipsey, but you can see he's wearing a white shirt like the one he was photographed in moments before the shooting.

Police have only described the shooter as a black male in his 20s, and say he escaped in a vehicle driven by a woman.

TMZ broke the story ... the Crenshaw rapper was killed Sunday afternoon, and 2 other people were shot, but survived. Nipsey was pronounced dead at the hospital after paramedics performed CPR on the scene and during the ambulance ride.

As we told you ... Nipsey had, ironically, planned to meet with LAPD's police chief and commissioner on Monday afternoon to discuss a plan to prevent gang violence.

Nipsey Hussle is dead because the gunman couldn't stand to see another person shining and leading his community by example ... so says T.I.

Tip is clearly going through a ton of emotions after Nipsey's murder, but still joined us Monday on 'TMZ Live' to offer his theory behind WHY anyone in the rapper's beloved Crenshaw neighborhood would kill him. Ironically, he believes it's Nipsey's amazing outreach to his community -- countless efforts to improve lives -- that sparked a jealous rage inside the shooter.

T.I. says the guy who pulled the trigger is probably trapped in a mindset of hating to see someone from his block, or someone who looks like him ... advancing in life. The sad part being ... that's exactly the kind of person Nipsey tried to uplift.

Check out T.I.'s breakdown of what he sees as a senseless crime ... he points to jealousy and envy as possible motivations -- but it's deeper than that, according to him.

Like The Game, T.I. says he's disgusted and disheartened by Nipsey's killing.

Despite life-saving measures by paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the hospital. Law enforcement sources tell us cops are looking for a black male in his 20s, who escaped in what appeared to be a waiting vehicle after he rolled up by foot.

In the meantime, T.I. -- like the rest of L.A. -- is awaiting answers.