CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

Ex-NFL wideout Dorial Green-Beckham avoided serious jail time for his December drunk driving arrest ... in part 'cause the judge says he can still influence the community in his hometown.

As TMZ Sports reported ... DGB was busted for DWI back on Dec. 30 in Missouri when a cop suspected the ex-Eagles WR was intoxicated while picking up a friend at 3 AM.

Cops were right. He later pled guilty to misdemeanor DWI and was facing six months behind bars and a $1,000 fine.

But, when the 25-year-old appeared in court for sentencing Monday ... the Greene County judge let him off easy, in part because DGB -- as one of the greatest H.S. football players in the town's history -- can still have an impact on kids in the community.

"We're all pulling for you," the judge said, via the Springfield News-Leader.

"Don't forget that. This whole community is pulling for you."

The judge sentenced Dorial to 2 years of unsupervised probation, 60 hours of community service and a substance awareness traffic program.

DGB was the top-rated recruit in the 2012 class ... but flamed out at both Missouri and in the NFL thanks, in large part, to off-the-field issues.

Dorial's attorney told the Springfield News-Leader he could be trying to make a comeback to football ... perhaps in the Canadian Football League.

Remember, HE'S ONLY 25!!!

3:42 PM PT -- A source close to Birdman says the phone call was in no way referring to the bus shooting. Even further, we're told Birdman doesn't believe Winfrey is the shooter ... and he would never associate with someone who tried to harm Wayne.

It's worth noting ... Winfrey's conviction was overturned in July due to biased conduct by the judge in his case. He's still in custody awaiting a new trial, or possibly a new plea deal.

The man convicted of shooting up Lil Wayne's tour bus took a jailhouse phone call from Birdman ... and it sounds like Birdman was congratulating him on a job well done.

The phone call was made while Jimmy Winfrey was incarcerated in Cobb County, GA. Winfrey would eventually be convicted and sentenced to 20 years, including 10 years to serve in prison and 10 years of probation, for shooting Weezy's bus in April 2015.

During the call Birdman says, "Time for you to come out here and get your money. You did everything you could do, boss."

The audio is shocking for several reasons, not the least of which being the fact Wayne and Birdman recently squashed their beef, and Wayne finally released "Tha Carter V."

The phone convo was uncovered as part of a separate civil lawsuit, filed by the tour bus driver, Alvin Lewis ... against Birdman and Young Thug. In docs, obtained by TMZ, Lewis says Birdman had promised Winfrey $250k and a Porsche. The intimation is the cash and car were payment for the shooting.

As we reported, the Cobb County D.A. is considering filing charges against Thug and Birdman for the shooting.

8:54 AM PT -- Cardi was just officially arrested and charged with two misdemeanors, assault and reckless endangerment. We're told she had a mug shot taken and was fingerprinted. The rapper is scheduled to be arraigned on October 29.

Joe Tacopina, the attorney for the alleged victims, tells us, "She continues to threaten them and clearly thinks her celebrity status is going to get her out of this. But it doesn't matter if her name is Cardi B or Carl B ... if she commits violent assaults she will be brought to justice."

Cardi B will turn herself in to police Monday ... and she will be ordered to appear in court in connection with a strip club fight.

Sources familiar with the case tell TMZ, Cardi will be charged for allegedly ordering an attack on 2 bartenders at Angels Strip Club in Queens NY. The 2 bartender sisters -- Jade and Baddie Gi -- say Cardi had a long-standing beef with Jade because Cardi believed she had slept with Offset.

Cardi -- who was at the Strip Club because Migos was performing -- came face-to-face with the 2 bartenders and allegedly told her posse to attack them with bottles, chairs and a hookah smoking device. The 2 women were both hurt, but refused medical attention.

We're told Cardi will likely be charged with 2 misdemeanors -- reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. She will not be arrested when she turns herself in ... she will get a summons to appear in court on the charges.

A source close to Cardi tells TMZ the attack was "spontaneous" and was triggered after someone threw a drink. They say nothing was premeditated.

Bill Cosby's 3 to 10 year prison sentence reeks of unfairness and sets a dangerous precedent for the future ... so says fellow comedian Joe Torry.

We got Joe at LAX Sunday and he told us it's crazy to see what the judicial system is doing to someone he regards as an American hero.

Joe thinks Cosby's punishment for sexual assault is the first domino to fall ... because more people will end up in prison for mistakes they made "100 years ago."

Torry once walked into court with Cosby during his trial, so he's got a unique perspective. Joe says his heart goes out to the victims, but he's convinced Cosby got a raw deal in this particular case.

Jason Ritter's the latest celeb to get hit by a burglar, and this one was especially horrifying ... for his fiancee.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Jason's fiancee, Melanie Lynskey, was home alone last weekend in their Hollywood Hills crib when she heard some noise in the back of the house. We're told she thought it was Jason coming home, but then realized the back door window had been broken ... and it became very clear what had just happened -- a break-in.

Our sources say the burglar walked in through the door after breaking the window, but was apparently scared away after hearing Melanie, who then called 911.

Cops showed up, but the perp was gone by the time they arrived. LAPD's now investigating the attempted burglary. Jason -- son of the late John Ritter -- is just the latest celeb to be targeted by burglars. Rihanna's crib was hit a few days later in the same neighborhood.

10/2 -- We've obtained docs that show Horne was more than "merely a vendor" in the company. Horne actually filed a trademark for Beverly Beach back in 2017.

'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star Dorit Kemsley says the guy claiming she and her husband screwed him over when they launched her swimwear brand is full of it, and in fact ... it's quite the opposite.

We broke the story ... Ryan Horne sued Dorit and her husband, Paul Kemsley, last month, claiming he struck a deal with them in 2017 to make bathing suits and own a third of the biz. He also claimed he got stiffed out of huge profits.

Dorit's company, Beverly Beach, fired back at Horne with a lawsuit of its own last week. According to the docs ... Dorit is the company's sole owner, and there was never a deal made with Horne for ownership.

BB also claims Horne was "merely a vendor" for the swimwear brand ... but failed to provide the goods and services he promised in a timely or competent manner. The company alleges it was screwed out of hundreds of thousands in lost sales as a result.

As Bill Cosby settles into life behind bars, the convicted comedian will undergo a rigorous evaluation to determine the extent of his sex offender treatment ... and it all hinges on how much of a danger he poses.

Cosby will go through a program called Responsible Living: A Sex Offender Treatment Program ... something all sex offenders must complete as part of their sentence.

There are seven phases ...

-- Phase 1: Responsibility Taking

-- Phase 2: Behavioral Techniques

-- Phase 3: Emotional Well-Being

-- Phase 4: Victim Empathy

-- Phase 5: Anger Management

-- Phase 6: Sex Education

-- Phase 7: Relapse Prevention

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Cosby will go through an evaluation process to determine what category of risk he falls in and what sort of treatment is deemed fit in the state sex offender program.

Elon Musk is getting a job title change ... because he'll no longer be a Tesla chairman after reaching a settlement with the SEC.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has settled with Musk after hitting him with a lawsuit this week for misleading investors after he tweeted in August ... "Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured."

According to the legal docs ... Musk will have to pay a civil penalty of $20 million as part of the settlement and give up his role as chairman of the board for at least three years. He has 45 days to relinquish his chairman title.

Tesla will also pay a $20 mil fine and appoint 2 new independent directors to the board. However, Musk will remain CEO of Tesla.

As we reported ... the SEC alleged Musk's tweets caused significant confusion and disruption in the market for Tesla's stock, and ended up hurting investors' wallets. It also wanted to "prohibit him from acting as an officer or director" of any public company.

In losing his chairman role, it looks like the SEC will get part of its wish. It should be noted the settlement is still subject to court approval.

The FBI is now involved in investigating possible police corruption in connection with Stormy Daniel's arrest at a Columbus, Ohio strip club.

As we reported, Stormy was arrested in July while she was performing at Sirens strip club after several patrons made physical contact with her. It appeared the vice cops were lying in wait for Stormy.

Fact is ... there was no basis to arrest Stormy because the law under which she was arrested did NOT apply to her since she was not a regular performer at the club. The police chief apologized and launched an internal affairs investigation.

What we're told ... some of the officers were pro-Trump and it looked like a personal vendetta.

Well, now the FBI's Public Corruption Task Force has been called in at the request of the police chief.

The task force includes the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

Tekashi69's Brooklyn home was swarmed and raided by federal agents Friday ... a search we're told turned up a gun.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Tekashi was not home during the time of the raid. It's currently unknown what prompted the search, or who the gun discovered in the home belonged to.

A source close to Tekashi tells us the rapper was already in the process of moving out of the Brooklyn home that was raided. We're told 6ix9ine had not been in the house for several weeks, and many people -- including movers and cleaners -- have been inside the property lately.

Tekashi hasn't been in NY much over the last several weeks. You'll remember ... he was in Colombia with Kanye West, and had a show in Russia where a fan got stomped out by his crew.

You can see from the pics, multiple agents showed up at the home for the search. We're told NYPD also assisted.

We reached out to a rep for Tekashi ... so far, no word back.

Michael Darby's facing charges for allegedly grabbing a 'Real Housewives of Potomac' cameraman's butt, but at least one judge believes that's not enough to keep him away from the crew member.

Ashley Darby's husband was facing a restraining order on top of criminal charges for sexual assault, but for now it's been denied because the cameraman couldn't meet the required burden of proof ... according to new legal docs.

We broke the story ... Orville Palmer claims Darby groped him on Sept. 1 while he was filming an episode of the show and then gave him "a flirtatious look." The 'Housewives' star's been charged with felony assault and misdemeanor improper sexual contact. He's also been suspended from the show by Bravo.

According to the new docs ... the incident went down at the home of fellow 'RHOP' stars Chris and Monique Samuels. Palmer also claims Darby kicked him in the lower buttocks a couple weeks earlier.

Palmer obtained a temporary restraining order against Darby, but it expired Thursday ... and the judge rejected his request for a permanent one.

Tupac's estate is getting a treasure trove of unreleased music, although not as much cash as it wanted.

We've learned Tupac's estate has settled its lawsuit against Entertainment One, the company it sued because the estate claimed E.O. had screwed it over royalties to the tune of 7 figures.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, Entertainment One will pay the estate a substantial 6-figure amount. But, there's something way more significant.

Tupac's mom, Afeni Shakur, was the administrator of Tupac's estate back in 2013 and sued Entertainment One to get a bunch of unreleased master recordings her son had made.

Afeni died in 2016, but the lawsuit trudged on ... until this week. We've learned those unreleased masters will now go back to the estate. We're told the value of the recordings is huge.

There was nothing random about the burglaries at the homes of Yasiel Puig and Robert Woods -- cops believe they were most likely targeted because they're pro athletes who were PLAYING when the crooks struck.

TMZ Sports broke the stories ... Puig was at Dodger Stadium and Woods helping the L.A. Rams crush the Vikings when intruders broke into their homes, both located in the San Fernando Valley.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... they don't believe the burglaries are connected -- but cops do think the bad guys in both cases were using social media and team schedules to plot their crimes.

Cops are also investigating to see if the crimes were inside jobs -- orchestrated by people connected to the athletes.

We're told cops are meeting with both Puig and Woods to help strengthen their home security -- including more surveillance cameras, alarms, lights and guards to stand watch while they're working.

Seems obvious ... but a lot of people feel "it could never happen to me" -- until it does.

Kevin Spacey is getting sued by a masseur who claims the actor forced a rubdown of his testicles and attempted to kiss him ... TMZ has learned.

The masseur, filing as John Doe, says he was called by a third party to go meet Spacey at a home in Malibu in October 2016. According to the docs, Spacey led the man to a room where he set up his massage table.

Doe says he told Spacey to lay face down on the table, but he insisted on laying face up. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Doe says Spacey told him he was having pain in his "groin area" ... and then proceeded to grab the masseur's hand and push it onto his testicles.

Doe says he pulled away, and Spacey stood up naked ... then moved toward him and said, "you have such beautiful eyes." Doe believed the actor was trying to kiss him. The masseur says he continued to back away, but Spacey grabbed his genitals and said something to the effect of ... just let me give you a blow job.

The man says he grabbed his massage table and fled the residence. He's suing Spacey for sexual battery, battery, assault and false imprisonment.

It's ironic ... the day 'Carter V' was released, we've confirmed Birdman is under investigation for allegedly plotting to shoot up Lil Wayne's tour bus.

The Cobb County, GA D.A. tells TMZ they are indeed investigating the man who calls Wayne his son.

We're told Young Thug is also being investigated in connection with the shooting.

TMZ broke the story ... Wayne's tour bus took on gunfire in Atlanta back in 2015, after Wayne performed at a nightclub.

The shooting went down just minutes after the bus pulled away from the club.

No one was injured, but not for lack of trying.

2:30 PM PT -- POTUS has authorized the FBI to begin the Kavanaugh investigation that Sen. Flake called for right before the Judiciary Committee voted to recommend confirmation.

Several other Senators demanded such an investigation during Thursday's testimony, and Flake suggested the investigation should only delay the full Senate vote on Kavanaugh's confirmation by a week.

President Trump is one huge step closer to getting his guy, Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court -- the Senate Judiciary Committee just voted 11-10 to recommend he be confirmed.

The Committee has 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats, so the tally comes as no shock -- even after Thursday's emotional day of testimony from Kavanaugh and his sexual assault accuser, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. The next step for Kavanaugh is the confirmation vote before the full Senate.

Before he cast his vote recommending confirmation, Sen. Jeff Flake came face-to-face with two sexual assault victims who confronted and cornered him in an elevator on Capitol Hill. The incident might have had some impact -- before the Committee voted, Sen. Flake requested the Senate vote be delayed for one week to let the FBI conduct an investigation. However, the Committee voted to recommend confirmation ... and did NOT insist on the one-week delay.

Emotions have been running high since Thursday's nearly 9 hours of testimony. Two other women -- Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick -- also levied allegations but were not allowed to testify.

Ford recounted Kavanaugh's alleged attack on her at a house party when they were in high school. Kavanaugh followed, and vehemently denied the allegations ... seemingly coming unhinged at times.