CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

This could be a bad look for R. Kelly -- 3 of his alleged acquaintances have been charged with harassing witnesses in his criminal case ... but the singer claims he had no involvement.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday Richard Arline, Donnell Russell and Michael Williams were arrested and charged for allegedly intimidating witnesses in the disgraced singer's racketeering case in NYC.

Prosecutors allege Arline -- a self-proclaimed friend of R. Kelly -- offered $500k to an alleged victim in exchange for her to NOT cooperate with prosecutors. Russell -- a self-described manager, advisor and friend of Kelly -- allegedly threatened to reveal sexually explicit pics of an alleged victim and publicly reveal her sexual history if she didn't withdraw her civil suit.

And get this, prosecutors claim Williams -- a relative of someone who once served as Kelly's publicist -- set fire to an SUV parked outside the Florida residence where an alleged victim was staying back in June.

Acting Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Seth D. DuCharme released a statement, saying...“The defendants are separately charged with engaging in multiple crimes that were intended to undermine and subvert the integrity of the criminal justice system and victimize the women who have come forward with serious allegations of criminal conduct against the defendant R. Kelly."

Kelly's attorney, Steven Greenberg, tells TMZ ... his team just learned about these charges against Kelly's so-called "associates." He says, "Without question, Robert Kelly had nothing to do with any of these alleged acts by those charged. He has not attempted to intimidate anyone, or encouraged anyone else to do so. No involvement whatsoever."

The parent of the 8-year-old kid who was arrested in Key West two years ago is now going after the school and the city, claiming the boy -- who already had serious psychological issues -- was all but destroyed by the incident.

Bianca Digennaro just filed a suit on behalf of her child -- who's only identified by his initials, HMM -- claiming her son was subjected to humiliation, embarrassment and psychological damage that manifested itself physically ... which she says could scar him permanently.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Digennaro says school officials should never have called the police, because school officials knew HMM had serious issues, including Oppositional Defiance Disorder, Adjustment Disorder and ADHD.

What happened to cause police to come did not justify trying to cuff the boy and arrest him. The mom says HMM refused to sit on a bench the way the teacher wanted. The teacher grabbed the boy and he implored her to take her hands off him. When she didn't, he punched her once in the chest. She was not injured, and HMM became remorseful and upset.

Nevertheless ... cops tried to scare the boy straight by telling him he was going to jail. The suit claims there was no justification for even calling the cops, since mental issues were the root cause of the problem, yet they still treated him like a criminal.

The kid's mother goes on to say that the psychological trauma of the incident caused her son to experience loss of breath, hives, stomach and head aches, nightmares, insomnia and inability to sleep alone in the aftermath of his run-in with cops. Her suit claims excessive force, ADA violations and failure to train officers properly.

Federal agents say a massive shipment of footwear on its way to Mexico contained millions of dollars worth of fake shoes -- including some coveted, rare Jordans and Yeezys.

U.S Customs and Border Protection announced the bust their agents down at the Dallas/Fort Worth port this week -- where they seized a haul which included over 1,800 pairs of phony Limited Edition Dior X Air Jordan 1 kicks that were heading to retailers south of the border.

These specific shoes retail for about $2,000 a pop on the market, and all in all ... the feds say the shipment was worth upwards of $4.3 million.

The agents add that the boxes -- about 60 of which were targeted, all coming from China -- had all the markings of a scam ... bad packaging, poor quality and the officers' previous experience with this sort of thing told them the shoes weren't legit, so they halted them.

The Jordans weren't the only sneakers in the mix -- as you can see in the photo above, it looks like there are some Yeezy 350 Boosts scattered throughout as well ... knock-offs, we should note. USCBP says several different shoes with Nike and Adidas logos were spotted.

They also say they gave the shipment's cosigner the chance to submit proof of Trademark Licensing before taking it outta their hands. Obviously, their paperwork wasn't up to snuff.

BTW ... this sorta scheme can generate tens of millions of dollars if it goes undetected -- according to the customs team, more than $37 mil of an MRSP was recorded in counterfeit shoe sales in 2019 alone. So, be on the lookout for Jordans and Yeezees on the street.

Juelz Santana is enjoying his newfound freedom thanks in part to Meek Mill ... and now he wants to give back to the inmates he met while behind bars.

Here's the deal ... Juelz is fresh outta prison after serving 19 months of his 27-month sentence in his airport drug case, and he's got Meek to thank for some smooth sailing.

Our sources tell us Meek helped Juelz by connecting his wife, Kimbella, with a lawyer who helped guide them through the process to ensure everything worked out. Courts and the prison system can be tricky, and we're told Meek wanted to ensure things would work out for Juelz.

The Dipset MC was able to come straight home and skip the halfway house he was originally destined for. Many halfway houses are shut down because of the pandemic.

Juelz is now on supervised release, which, as we first reported, means he'll have to submit to a drug test within 15 days of his release.

Now that he's out, Juelz tells us he wants to give back to inmates by working with non-profits whose missions include overturning sentences for wrongly convicted prisoners. Juelz says he also wants to help people in prison find a platform for the music and movie scripts they write in lockup.

On that same front, Juelz tells us he wrote a ton of new music on the inside, as well as a script for a TV series. He says he's going to get back in the studio Monday, but also wants to take time to focus on his family and make up for the 19 months he spent in prison.

Juelz's wife is happy to have her husband home ... she says it's surreal to have him back, wake up next to him and see him with their kids.

"Vanderpump Rules" star Danica Dow's ex-BF is responding to her restraining order against him by getting his own against her ... claiming she clawed his neck over a "90 Day Fiance" episode.

Brett Willis beelined it to court in L.A. seeking a temporary restraining order against Danica, and claims she most recently got violent with him in July when an argument erupted between them.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, he says Danica was pissed he wouldn't clean his dish until after a "90 Day Fiance" episode ended. He says he went outside to let her cool off, but claims when he came back the argument continued ... “until Danica grabbed my neck twice, each time digging her nails deep and pulling hard enough to scratch off some skin from my neck.”

Willis claims she drew blood, just like she allegedly did in a February fight about a woman he'd hooked up with before they were together. According to the docs, Danica was so pissed she "ran across her bed to claw my neck and rip my shirt apart." He also alleges she bit his arm when he tried to get away.

He also claims she went off on him at a "Vanderpump Rules" premiere party. All that was enough for the judge, who granted his restraining order for Danica to stay at least 10 feet away when they're both working at Pump ... and 100 yards away outside the bar.

For her part, Danica claimed earlier this week that Brett broke into her home and cut up her clothes -- and she too was granted a restraining order.

"Mob Wives" star Drita D'Avanzo asked the judge to go easy on her husband in his federal gun case ... but instead, the judge dropped the hammer.

Drita and her 2 daughters were in court Friday for her husband Lee D'Avanzo's sentencing in New Jersey where judge Rachel P. Kovner sentenced Lee to 64 months in prison.

Lee's counsel argued a sentence of 37 months was more than enough because he took responsibility for the crime ... but federal prosecutors in Brooklyn wanted up to 46 months. Kovner wasn't having it, saying keeping 2 loaded guns with hollow point ammunition in a home with 2 daughters was extremely dangerous.

Kovner added she didn't have confidence Lee would learn his lesson if she gave him a lighter sentence. She also noted Lee has 6 prior convictions and had previously violated supervised release. She said she had a duty to protect the public. Once he's done serving his sentence ... Lee will be on 2 years of supervised release.

As we reported ... Lee apologized for his actions and pled guilty to gun possession charges in back March after the NYPD raided the family home and found the guns. Drita was eventually cleared of all charges.

Washington Football Team owner Dan Snyder is trying to smoke out the person behind a rash of Internet posts falsely accusing him of being a sex trafficker with ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Snyder took his battle to federal court Friday morning seeking info on a company called New Content Media, which operates the website, meaww.com. He's also filed a $10 million lawsuit in India against the parent company of the website that published the heinous stories last month.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, Snyder says meaww.com posted an article hinting that a forthcoming Washington Post story was going to expose Snyder's alleged involvement in sex trafficking. Snyder points out the meaww.com post sourced anonymous Reddit posts, including one that said "[Snyder] is getting [arrested] for sex trafficking. He was on [Jeffrey] Epstein's list too."

As you know, the July 16 WaPo article said no such thing -- it detailed sexual harassment allegations against several team executives ... but not Snyder.

In the suit, he says the site also posted this outlandish theory -- "Will Dan Snyder rename Washington Redskins the 'Epsteins?'"

Snyder, whose team just unveiled its brand new helmets for the upcoming season, calls the stories "utterly untrue" with no "legitimate journalistic basis whatsoever."

That being said, he is painfully aware the articles spread like wildfire across the Internet. As Snyder says in the suit, the articles "have been referenced in at least 22 stories which have generated over 160 million impressions."

Although meaww.com took down the articles under threat of legal action ... he says the damage has been done to his character and his family name.

What's clearly important to him now is not just the $10 million he's seeking for defamation -- but also finding out who engineered the whole smear campaign. In the docs, he says he wants the "identity of the third parties involved in hiring [meaww.com] to publish these false and defamatory articles."

The firearms seized in the FBI raid at Jake Paul's house are now in the hands of the Sheriff ... and we're told the guns aren't the reason the feds stormed the place with a warrant.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... there were multiple guns taken from Jake's crib in Calabasas during Wednesday's FBI raid, and they're now being held by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for safekeeping.

It sure seemed weapons may have been what drove the FBI to get a search warrant and, in a massive show of force, raid Paul's L.A. home, as well as his friend's home in Vegas. We do know the raids were somehow connected to looting at a Scottsdale, AZ, mall ... where Jake and his friend were front and center.

As you know ... aerial footage of the scene from ABC 7 showed law enforcement officials walking down Jake's driveway with rifles and perhaps shotguns.

We're told Sheriff's deputies seized the guns once FBI agents entered the home because the house was not secured and deputies couldn't just leave the guns laying around.

Our sources stress the guns were not taken as evidence of any crime, or FBI agents would have taken them themselves.

We broke the story ... Jake had 2 large guns prominently displayed in his bedroom, which were casually displayed in a recent YouTube prank.

Ex-NFLer Justin Bannan has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in his attempted murder case ... after the defensive lineman allegedly shot a woman back in 2019.

41-year-old Bannan -- who played 11 seasons in the NFL -- was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault and burglary back in October 2019 ... after he shot a woman in the shoulder in Boulder, Colorado.

The woman survived -- and she's suing Bannan over the shooting -- but he's also being prosecuted criminally and faces serious prison time if convicted.

Officials say at the time of his arrest, Bannan told a bizarre story about how he was on the run from the Russian mafia and had ditched his cell phone over fears he was being tracked.

Bannan also claimed he did not intend to fire his weapon, claiming the shooting was an accident and he never intentionally targeted the female victim.

Officials say the woman had worked in the same building as Bannan ... but they really didn't know each other.

Cops also say when the 6'3", 310-lb. Bannan was arrested, he was carrying a rolled-up $20 dollar bill, which later tested positive for cocaine.

According to FOX 31 Denver, Bannan is now set to undergo a mental health evaluation at a state hospital.

Bannan was a standout defensive lineman at the University of Colorado from 1997-2001 ... and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 5th round of the 2002 NFL Draft.

Jake Paul's L.A.-area home is the scene of an early morning FBI raid ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... Jake's house in Calabasas is currently being searched by the feds -- and that a search warrant has been issued to do so. We don't know why or what the authorities are looking for, but we do know agents are on the ground, taking a look around.

We know Jake draws a lot of attention with his YouTube stunts, which are often documented on camera -- some of which have landed him in hot water, legally before. The raid isn't a prank gone wrong though ... we know it's real this time.

It's unclear if Jake himself is home right now.

"There is no county line at which Kobe Bryant’s celebrity suddenly evaporates."

That's Vanessa Bryant's key argument as to why the court should REJECT a requested venue change in her wrongful death lawsuit -- claiming Kobe's legacy expands way beyond L.A.

As we previously reported, Island Express Helicopters and the estate for pilot Ara Zobayan had asked the court to move the case from L.A. to Orange County, arguing they couldn't get a fair trial in the city where the Lakers star played NBA ball for 20 years.

Now, Vanessa is firing back ... saying she lawfully selected L.A. as her venue because that's where the January 26th helicopter crash occurred -- and she's digging in her heels to keep it there.

Not only does Vanessa point out the Bryants have lived in Orange County for nearly 20 years and Kobe's "popularity there is just as strong as anywhere else" -- but she also claims it really doesn't matter where you go, Kobe is beloved all over the U.S.

"Defendant fails to acknowledge the extent to which Kobe Bryant’s legacy penetrates American culture," Vanessa's attorney states in new court docs obtained by TMZ Sports.

"There is no county line at which Kobe Bryant’s celebrity suddenly evaporates. Public esteem for Kobe Bryant is a fact of American life."

Vanessa is right about Kobe's popularity -- when he passed away back in January, tributes poured in from all over the world ... including Italy and Japan.

A massive Kobe mural even went up in Gradiška, Bosnia and Herzegovina!

As for the venue change, that's now up to a judge to decide.

There is justice after all, at least in the case of the woman who viciously attacked an elderly woman inside a store ... all over -- you guessed it -- masks.

25-year-old Terri Thomas was arrested in Hackensack, NJ for aggravated assault after video surfaced, allegedly showing her attack the lady at a STAPLES who'd asked her to pull up her mask over mouth.... which sent Thomas into a rage.

The surveillance video shows the assault clear as day -- cops say it depicts Thomas circling back to the woman -- a 54-year-old who recently had a liver transplant. The older woman tries to fend her off with her cane, but it backfired.

The suspect grabbed the woman's cane and tossed her like a rag doll ... leaving the woman on the ground and writhing in pain as the suspect stormed out, mask half hanging off her mug. Cops say the woman suffered a fractured leg and required surgery.

We've been seeing these types of face-offs way too often lately -- people telling others they should follow safety guidelines and wear face coverings, only to be cussed out, accosted, threatened, and in some cases ... outright injured for doing the right thing.

The woman who was viciously attacked by a white supremacist in Florida is getting a boon of support with tons of cash ... something that will be needed to help with the pain of her injuries.

Kisha Biche's the one who got struck in the face by Nicholas Shock -- this after he went on a racist tirade, describing himself as a white supremacist. Her hubby, Tom Biche, tells TMZ, Kisha actually held off going to the hospital right after the attack, but eventually checked in later that night after the adrenaline wore off and the pain set in.

As it turns out, we're told she actually suffered a concussion -- and she's experiencing some serious symptoms as a result.

Among those symptoms -- headaches, nausea, whiplash and bruising as well, which we're told is popping up all over her body for some reason. He tells us plainly her head's not working quite right ... she's having a hard time remembering things.

Lucky for her, we're told her friends set up a GoFundMe to help her during this difficult time of recovery -- and tons of people are pitching in from all over, even strangers.

The initial goal was $10,000 -- but the money has well surpassed that, and its current benchmark is set at $25k. The description for the virtual fundraiser says the money's meant to help offset dough she's missing out on at her bartender job -- not to mention medical bills.

President Trump is doubling down on his well-wishes for alleged child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell behind bars -- his reason ... Jeffrey Epstein might've been killed in there himself.

DT sat for an interview with Axios, which just aired on HBO Monday night. They covered A LOT of topics -- but one in particular that raised eyebrows was Trump's feelings toward Maxwell, and by extension ... her longtime associate, Epstein, who died last year.

Check it out ... the reporter asks why Trump would send someone accused of horrible crimes his regards -- he said this last week during a press conference at the White House -- and 45 answered by suggesting she, too, could be at risk at dying while in custody.

Trump says her "boyfriend" Epstein was "either killed or committed suicide" while in jail, and that he wished her good luck ... further saying to let prosecutors prove she's guilty. The reporter follows up by asking if he thinks she could also die while in custody, and DT seems to confirm that's where his head's at. He says he's not wishing anything bad upon her.

It's interesting that Trump's peddling the conspiracy theory Epstein was knocked off at the hands of others -- because that's exactly how Epstein's own camp feels about it too.

Jonathan Cheban -- AKA the "Foodgod" -- claims he had a gun pointed at him this weekend ... and now, says he's out hundreds of thousands after a crook made off with his bling.

Law enforcement sources tell us, Kim Kardashian's BFF said he was robbed at gunpoint Sunday night in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, where he was hanging with his mom and friend. We're told Jon and his ma were at a mall earlier in the day, and afterward ... rolled up to his pal's place.

We're told all three of them were out front in the driveway, when a young man walked up and asked for the time. Our sources say Jonathan felt something was off and told everyone to head inside, but by then ... we're told the dude pulled out a gun and was on them.

Cheban told cops the perp moved the group between two cars, to trap them ... and then pointed the gun right at Jonathan's mother's head. We're told Jonathan told the guy to take anything he wanted and the guy ended up taking Jon's Richard Mille watch, worth about $250k.

BTW, we're also told a second gunman was on the scene -- a larger man who was standing watch. Eventually, neighbors heard the commotion and came out to see what was going on -- which scared off the guys, whom we're told made off together on foot.

We're told cops were called and Jonathan is supposed to go in and help with a sketch of the suspects -- we should note, our sources say neither of these fellas had masks on.

It's interesting ... Jon's best friend, Kim Kardashian, rarely wears expensive jewelry anymore after she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris.

Tekashi 6ix9ine is fully free, having just completed house arrest, and he's already out shooting a music video.

We got this vid of Tekashi out in Brooklyn Sunday, bright and early (7:30 AM) .... alongside some super wild rides.

It's no surprise ... a few security guards were patrolling the area, along with a massive entourage. Security was blocking several streets, stopping drivers from coming through. It's pretty clear they had permits to shoot the video ... otherwise, cops would have shut it down.

The cars are crazy -- 2 colorful Lambos, an orange McLaren, a yellow Dodge Charger and a Benz.

Tekashi, who was released from house arrest Saturday, is on 5 years supervised probation. Most people thought he'd go into witness protection, but he's shunned that, and the music video is evidence ... he's not hiding from anyone.