CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

Miss USA Cheslie Kryst is hard at work on a project that goes well beyond your typical beauty pageant agenda -- and it has her crossing paths with Kim Kardashian.

The new Miss USA was on "TMZ Live" Monday and told us she's working to free an inmate who's serving a life sentence for a low-level drug charge. She's working closely with Brittany K. Barnett -- the lawyer who just secured another prisoner's release ... with Kim's funding.

Cheslie, an attorney herself, tells us she and Brittany hope to do the same for someone in her home state of North Carolina by the end of this month.

As we reported ... Kim and Brittany just helped free Jeffrey Stringer, who served 22 years of a life sentence in Florida. Kim posted a celebratory shot of his family ahead of Stringer's release.

Now, Cheslie's hoping she can accomplish a similar mission close to home.

Marshmello's mega hit "Happier" has another artist PISSED ... claiming in a new lawsuit the famous DJ jacked his remix.

Artem Stoliarov -- aka Arty -- is suing Marshmello claiming the DJ's track "Happier" is almost identical to Arty's remix of One Republic's "I Lived." In docs, obtained by TMZ, Arty claims that Marshmello's melody in "Happier" is a direct copy of Arty's "I Lived" remix ... specifically Marshmello's four-bar synthesizer, which Arty calls a knock off.

What's more ... Arty claims out of the 20 notes, the order of the first 19 notes are identical. Arty says he and Marshmello are acquaintances and often perform at the same music festivals. Arty also claims Marshmello was at one of his shows and saw him perform his "I Lived" remix.

Arty released his famous remix in 2014. The track peaked at No. 2 in the Billboard Hot 100 and remained in the charts for 35 weeks. It's gone multi-platinum twice and was recently played at the 2019 NFL Draft in Nashville. The track's seen nearly 4 million plays on YouTube.

Roger Stone is under the gun and under-funded for his legal defense -- so, ironically, he's ripped a page out of Stormy Daniels' playbook -- making big money at a Virginia strip club.

Don't worry, President Trump's former campaign adviser remained fully clothed Saturday night at Papermoon Southside Gentleman's Club in Richmond. He was the guest of honor, though ... taking photos with fans and signing autographs ... sometimes right on dancers' asses.

The club's director of special events, Mike Dickinson, tells TMZ ... Roger was paid a flat fee to show up for the night and do quick meet-and-greets with fans. Entry to the event was $25 a pop, and that included a photo and autograph, if you wanted one. All in all, Dickinson estimates Stone was able to raise high 5-figures for his legal defense against a 7-count federal indictment.

Stone was there with his longtime associate, ex-madam Kristin Davis ... who got wrapped up in Robert Mueller's investigation. Stone is accused of soliciting stolen emails from WikiLeaks that could've helped the Trump campaign in the 2016 election.

Michael Cohen's got the Monday blues on steroids ... he just checked himself into prison to begin his 3-year sentence -- but on the positive(ish) side he can hang with The Situation from "Jersey Shore."

President Trump's former personal attorney was spotted Monday arriving at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, NY ... where he'll be incarcerated after pleading guilty to tax fraud and campaign finance violations.

As we reported ... Cohen was slapped with 8 federal charges in August 2018. The campaign finance violation was for his $130k hush payment to Stormy Daniels in the 11th hour of the 2016 election.

Before heading off to the minimum-security prison -- considered a haven for white-collar criminals and 70 miles away from his NYC crib -- Cohen told reporters outside his pad "there still remains much to be told and I look forward to the day when I can share the truth."

Cohen also appeared to take a shot at Trump ... saying by the time he's released he hopes "the country will be in a place without xenophobia, injustice and lies at the helm."

Olivia Jade's a walking testament to what Sunday Funday looks like ... never mind her parents are engulfed in the biggest college admissions scam in American history.

We got Lori Loughlin's youngest daughter out Sunday in L.A. where she was dressed like your regular ol' college student but without the responsibilities anymore. We got her arriving at Fred Segal and took another stab at getting her take on her parents allegedly paying $500k in bribes to get her and her sis into USC under false pretenses.

But, check out the clip ... Olivia's clearly looking out for Numero Uno and her friends are there to make sure she adjusts back to her normal life amid the scandal. We've also got some pics ... showing Olivia surrounded by friends drinking what appear to be mimosas.

And, as kids do these days, they were also glued to their phones. You'll recall we also got Olivia out Friday leaving IKEA with a mystery man ... more evidence she's doing what she wanted to do in the first place -- pre-college.

The guy who was suing the Duffer Bros. for allegedly stealing the idea for "Stranger Things" from him is doing a complete 180 and yanking his lawsuit ... right before their trial was set to begin.

Charles Kessler reportedly withdrew his suit against Matt and Ross Duffer Sunday, issuing a statement as well that completely recanted any and all claims of plagiarism he'd made against them over the past year.

His reasoning is a bit odd, as it seems he just realized he had no case against them. Kessler wrote, "After hearing the deposition testimony this week of the legal expert I hired, it is now apparent to me that, whatever I may have believed in the past, my work had nothing to do with the creation of Stranger Things."

He added, "Documents from 2010 and 2013 prove that the Duffers independently created their show. As a result, I have withdrawn my claim and I will be making no further comment on this matter."

TMZ broke the story ... Kessler sued the Duffers back in April of last year, alleging that he'd met with them in 2014 to pitch an idea similar to "Stranger Things" but never heard back -- only to see a show incredibly similar to his idea get greenlit by Netflix courtesy of the bros.

He claimed that his 2012 short film "Montauk" was the inspiration for the show, but he never got any credit ... or cash. The Duffers, meanwhile, fired back saying they had documented evidence that they'd been working on "Stranger Things" since at least 2010.

We reviewed some of those documents -- emails that the Duffers were sending back and forth -- and sure enough, it appeared to prove they were, in fact, developing a "Montauk"-like series well before Kessler came into the picture.

Netflix chimed in on the news as well Sunday, saying ... "We are glad to be able to put this baseless lawsuit behind us. As we have said all along, Stranger Things is a ground-breaking original creation by The Duffer Brothers."

The studio continued, "We are proud of this show and of our friends Matt and Ross, whose artistic vision gave life to Stranger Things, and whose passion, imagination and relentless hard work alongside our talented cast and crew made it a wildly successful, award-winning series beloved by viewers around the world."

The visual evidence Remy Ma has for prosecutors in her assault case is so cut and dry, she knows they'll have no choice but to drop it ... so says her lawyer.

The rapper's attorney, Dawn Florio, tells TMZ ... Remy has security cameras installed in her house that show she was there at 9:30 PM on April 16 -- the same time "Love & Hip Hop: New York" star Brittney Taylor claims Remy punched her backstage during a concert at NYC's Irving Plaza.

We already knew this, but according to Florio ... prosecutors were "dumbfounded" in court this week when Remy's side claimed to have evidence to support she was nowhere near the spot of the alleged assault.

Remy's lawyer's confident once they review the home security footage, Taylor's case will be destroyed and Remy will be cleared.

There's more -- Florio insists there's NO surveillance footage from Irving Plaza that backs Taylor's claim she was assaulted in the green room area ... AND Florio says she's obtained a photo from the night of the alleged assault timestamped hours afterward that shows Brittney with no visible marks on her face.

Florio also claims after Remy left her house that night, she stopped at Target to pick up some items for her baby and didn't arrive at Irving Plaza until around 10:45 PM ... 15 minutes before she was scheduled to perform at 11.

Zac Efron's movie about Ted Bundy is pissing off a lot of people who were expecting tons of bloodshed and violence -- but one survivor of Bundy's killing spree says the lack of gore is a good thing.

Kathy Kleiner Rubin -- who was brutalized by Bundy and left for dead at Florida State University's Chi Omega house way back in 1978 -- tells us she thinks the Netflix adaption works better without massive amounts of blood, because it's not supposed to be a horror flick.

Sorry, bloodthirsty millennials ... Kathy says it's better to use your imagination, or just take the time to read up on Bundy's brutal murders.

Check out our clip ... Kathy gets super emotional as she talks about Bundy's long list of female victims, telling us Netflix did a great job portraying them even though it's difficult to tell their full stories in one movie.

Olivia Jade is putting her life back together one furniture purchase at a time -- at least that's what it looked like as she left IKEA with a mystery man.

Lori Loughlin's youngest daughter was walking out of the home furnishings store Friday in LA -- with a dude who wasn't her boyfriend, Jackson Guthy -- pushing a cart with just one boxed item in it. A Fjällbo coffee table? Or a Skarsta desk? Maybe even a Vittsjö shelf unit???

Who the hell knows? One thing that is clear -- she's gonna be building something, and seeing how we're told this was shot AFTER a trip to USC ... it's likely she's on the move.

Olivia didn't say much about the college cheating scandal, FWIW. The pap grilled her though, asking if she'd been in contact with her mom, and whether she was moving out.

As you know ... both of Olivia's parents have pled not guilty to the slew of charges brought against them since they were first indicted back in March for allegedly paying upwards of $500k in bribes to get their daughters into USC under false pretenses.

Felicity Huffman went a different route -- copping a plea, but still facing the possibility of jail time ... if prosecutors get their way.

Someone at USC wants you to think that Lori Loughlin and her daughters were NOT a one-off, but actually the status quo in that ya need NO experience for the women's rowing team.

A laminated poster promoting the D1 ladies crew team is literally hanging in the women's locker room inside USC's Lyon Rec Center right now, which has a pretty eyebrow-raising slogan ... "Join USC's Women's Rowing ... No experience? No problem."

There's even an email to contact the official asst. coach for questions, and the USC women's rowing social media handle is attached as well. Hmm ... interesting.

As you know ... Lori and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, have both been indicted and charged for allegedly paying hundreds of thousands in bribes to get their daughters -- Olivia Jade and Isabella -- into USC via the crew team ... even though they weren't rowers.

For the record ... Lori and Mossimo have pled not guilty to the initial conspiracy charges, as well as the additional money laundering charges that were filed when they didn't follow Felicity Huffman's lead in copping a plea.

Either way -- it would appear this poster is an elaborate joke that someone went to some lengths to pull off, assuming it is, in fact, fake. We only say that because it looks pretty damn real ... and it's eerily similar to an official recruiting ad the rowing team ran in 2018.

So, here's the thing .... we'd like to give USC the benefit of the doubt and assume this is a fake, 'cause if it wasn't ... it'd be incredibly tone-deaf and, frankly, dumb all things considered.

Soledad O'Brien, host of Saturday night's Lifetime follow-up to "Surviving R. Kelly," says this docuseries has been groundbreaking for victims who never had a voice.

We got Soledad Friday at LAX ... on the eve her show, "Surviving R. Kelly: The Impact," which not only follows up with the alleged victims but also the defense strategies of the embattled singer.

She says one of the values of her docuseries and others is that victims who had no previous connection are able to find each other and mobilize.

Kim Kardashian and her legal team have helped free another inmate serving a life sentence for a low-level drug offense ... this time in Florida.

Kim made the announcement Friday, saying a prisoner named Jeffrey Stringer would be walking free and reunited with his family soon after serving 22 years of a life sentence.

She posted this shot of Jeffrey's family members, who are clearly thrilled he's been granted a reduced sentence after more than 2 decades behind bars.

Sources connected to the case tell us Jeffrey was convicted for drug possession when he was 25, but because he had 2 drug priors ... he got life under the federal three-strikes law.

His attorney, Brittany K. Barnett -- who Kim credited for securing Jeffrey's release -- tells TMZ ... they went to court and successfully argued he should be released under the First Step Act, which President Trump signed into law last year.

Barnett, who co-founded the Buried Alive advocacy group for inmates like Jeffrey, says his "case epitomizes the catastrophic effect of 3 strikes." We're told he'll be released on Monday.

While Barnett did the lawyering, it appears Kim foot the bill. As she put it, "It gives me such joy to fund this life saving work."

As you know ... Kim's been dedicating much of her time to prison reform, helping Tennessee inmate Cyntoia Brown secure clemency, and playing a major role in freeing Alice Marie Johnson and Matthew Charles. She's even taken her cause to the Oval Office, meeting with President Trump ahead of Alice's release.

She's also studying hard to become a lawyer, and co-starring in her pal, Paris Hilton's music videos.

Busy woman.

Vince Vaughn got a good result in his DUI case ... the DUI and other charges have all been dismissed after the actor pled no contest to "wet reckless" driving.

TMZ broke the story ... Vince was arrested in Manhattan Beach, CA, back in June, after being snagged at a DUI checkpoint. Cops say he was uncooperative when officers told him and his passenger to step out of the vehicle.

Vaughn was charged with driving under the influence, driving with a .08 blood alcohol level or higher, and disobeying a police officer ... all misdemeanors.

The 3 charges were just dismissed, and Vince -- who was not in court but was represented by his lawyer, Blair Berk -- pled no contest to wet reckless -- which is a reduced charge when someone drives with alcohol in their system, but it is not a DUI.

Vaughn will pay a $390 fine -- plus various penalties which ups the payout to around $1,700 -- and he must attend an alcohol ed course, and he'll be on informal probation for 3 years.

Former 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' star Dina Manzo and her husband are finally close to getting justice -- a man's been arrested for their violent home invasion.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... James Mainello, a 51-year-old male from New Jersey is in police custody and is facing multiple charges for his role in the May 2017 incident. We're told DNA evidence was key in nailing the suspect ... who cops believe was one of the 2 alleged burglars.

As we reported ... Dina and David Cantin were attacked as soon as they walked in the front door of their home. The suspects struck Dina in the face and head and bludgeoned David with a baseball bat.

The couple was then zip-tied while the perps ransacked the house ... making off with cash and jewelry.

Mainello's been hit with multiple robbery charges, a burglary charge, multiple assault charges, a theft charge and several others.

Dina and David's lawyer, Andrew Brettler, tells us everyone is extremely grateful to the New Jersey law enforcement authorities, "whose diligent investigation over the last two years culminated in today’s arrest."

12:01 PM PT -- Raz B has been officially released from custody.

Raz B is getting off clean, at least criminally, for that fight he got into with his girlfriend during the B2K reunion tour.

Raz B won't be charged for allegedly strangling his girlfriend during a heated argument outside a Macy's in Minneapolis. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office tells us after a thorough investigation ... they didn't feel there was enough evidence to successfully prosecute the singer.

The County Attorney's Office tells TMZ cops talked to Raz's girlfriend and witnesses, and analyzed surveillance video from the scene ... but didn't see sufficient evidence.

Case dropped.

TMZ broke the story ... Raz B was busted early Wednesday morning for domestic assault by strangulation. We're told the girlfriend told a family member about the altercation, and then someone called police.

Dispatch audio describing the alleged assault mentions a female being strangled by the ramp of a Macy's store.

Raz B's camp claimed his girlfriend attacked him, and he was just defending himself.

David Eason, Jenelle Evans husband, who allegedly killed their family dog with a shotgun, made it clear to a photog in court Friday ... stay clear of him, or else.

Eason was in a North Carolina courtroom because he owed $5,187 in back child support. He had a deadline of Friday to pay up or possibly be held in contempt and go to jail. He showed up empty-handed, but the judge gave him a reprieve ... to come up with the money in the next few hours.

Eason left court, and a photog/reporter for WSFX tried asking him about killing his dog, but he wasn't having it and warned, "Don't get in my face, bro. I promise you don't want to do that."

Eason came back a short time later and paid the money.

He owed the money to Olivia Leedham, the mother of his 5-year-old son. Leedham claimed back in 2013, when she was 8 months pregnant he shoved her and also left her in the middle of the road when she was 7 months pregnant.

As for the dog ... we're told he was irate after the French Bulldog nipped at his daughter after she got in the dog's face ... beat the animal, and then shot it to death.