CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

A Chicago Cubs prospect in their farm system got busted with a boatload of drugs -- so say police out of Colorado, who claim he was riding with a stash that would make Tony Montana blush.

25-year-old Jesus Camargo-Corrales was reportedly arrested this past week near Vail, where a sheriff's deputy says he saw Camargo's car speeding and changing lanes erratically. After pulling him over, Camargo and his 2 passengers said they were driving to Denver from Phoenix. They then gave conflicting stories on where they were going -- police then searched the vehicle.

A K-9 unit is said to have been brought in ... and cops say it sniffed something in the trunk. Cops say they discovered a Cubs duffel bag, which they claim contained 21 pounds of methamphetamine and 1.2 pounds of oxycodone pills ... plus other paraphernalia.

An arrest affidavit claims that, at first, Camargo tried playing dumb ... but then later allegedly admitted he'd been contacted by someone in Sinaloa, Mexico to deliver this bag to Denver -- and copped to the fact that he knew there might've been drugs inside, per law enforcement.

As for what his alleged payoff was going to be -- according to Camargo, per police -- for this run ... just a measly $500!!!

He was arrested and booked on drug charges, including unlawful distribution and possession of methamphetamine and oxycodone -- class 1 and class 4 felonies, respectively. Camargo is reportedly still in custody as of Saturday. Unclear if he's been arraigned on the charges yet.

A Louisiana man has been charged over claims he used Grindr to prey on unsuspecting gay men -- one of whom he's accused of gruesomely torturing ... almost to the point of death.

The suspect's name is Chance Seneca, who was arrested last summer over the alleged incidents -- which authorities say amount to 3 total ... an attempted kidnapping and two actual kidnappings ... one of which prosecutors claim led to an 18-year-old getting choked and having his wrists sawed down to the bone in what sounds like a horror movie.

According to newly released docs that go into the gory details, obtained by The Daily Advertiser, prosecutors allege Seneca -- who's 19 himself -- confessed to using Grindr as a "hunting ground" to lure young gay men to his father's home, where he allegedly said he had planned to kill them and use their body parts as "trophies" and "food."

Prosecutors say on June 19, Seneca attempted to kidnap one man he'd met on Grindr but failed -- only to successfully kidnap another later that night. It's unclear what Seneca might've done to that guy, but the next day ... he allegedly picked up his 3rd and final victim.

That would be Holden White of Kaplan, LA -- whose name has been publicly released and whose family has been attempting to raise money, saying he's lost the use of his hands.

As for what Seneca allegedly did ... it's horrifying. Prosecutors say Seneca picked up Holden and took him to his dad's property ... where they'd be alone. Once there, prosecutors say Seneca got Holden to handcuff himself, and then pulled a gun on him.

He then allegedly brought him to the bathroom, where prosecutors say he strangled Holden from behind until he passed out ... only to place him in the bathtub and proceed to hack away at his wrists with a knife -- until he stopped when he saw bone and freaked.

Seneca came to his senses, calling the cops on himself and allegedly tried getting admitted to a mental institution. Holden came to at one point, and Seneca allegedly said, "let go… I’m setting you free." Officers finally arrived and saw the bloody mess.

Holden was taken to a hospital, and Seneca was arrested. On a state level, he's facing an attempted murder charge and a hate crime charge -- he's pled not guilty to the former. Federally, he's facing more ... another hate crime charge, kidnapping charges and others.

Stanley the Giraffe -- the crown jewel of Malibu Wine Safaris -- now sits in his pen as Exhibit A ... because authorities claim his owners are breaking the law by having him there.

ABC7 reports the CEO of MWS, Dakota Semler, and her pops, Ron, have been charged in connection to an investigation that allegedly revealed Stanley -- and perhaps other wild animals roaming around -- have been flying under the radar without the necessary paperwork to warrant their stay. The place is packed with animals you might see at a zoo.

They were reportedly informed by the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife that the Semlers never got the necessary licenses to house such exotic creatures -- like giraffes, zebras, etc. -- and as such, they've been accused of falsifying records to obtain permits to that effect.

As a result, Dakota -- who owns/runs the place -- has reportedly been charged with maintaining an animal facility or a wild animal without a license. Her dad -- who apparently owns Stanley himself -- has reportedly been charged with providing false info on his application for Stanley's restricted species permit with the CDFW. Both pled not guilty.

As for Stanley, Fish and Wildlife say he was "seized in place" -- meaning they're not taking him to any station for booking or processing ... ya know, 'cause he's like 18 feet tall. And as to the question of how the hell this didn't come to law enforcement's attention earlier -- they're claiming they relied on the word of the Semlers when they filled out their docs.

Here's the kicker ... ABC7 suggests that Malibu Wine Safaris might've been newly put under a microscope because of pissed-off would-be customers -- several of whom apparently complained about not getting refunded during the pandemic ... or not refunded fast enough.

So, because they upset their loyal base -- ABC7 says it started digging in, which might've triggered the investigation and subsequent charges. Oh, the irony ...

As you may or may not know ... Stanley is a fan fave at the sprawling attraction at Saddlerock Ranch -- tons of celebs have stopped by over the years and posed for selfies with Stan, who's always happy to nibble on someone's hair ... preferably some celery or lettuce.

The wife of Nicki Minaj's dad has filed a $150 million lawsuit over his death.

The lawsuit, filed by civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, alleges Charles Polevich drove recklessly back in February and was inattentive when he fatally struck Robert Maraj, who was walking on a street in Long Island.  Police say after striking the 64-year-old, Polevich walked over to him, asked if he was okay and then fled the scene ... later concealing his Volvo in a garage at his residence.

Crump tweeted this after filing the lawsuit ... "Charles Polevich was not only irresponsible & negligent in hitting Maraj, but was more concerned about running away and hiding than seeking help." He went on ... "Polevich's behavior was criminal, cowardly, and immoral. We will hold him responsible for his reckless actions that led to Rober Maraj's death!"

Polevich was charged with 2 felonies -- leaving the scene of an accident that led to death and tampering with or suppressing physical evidence.

Polevich pled not guilty and is free on a $250,000 bond.

Willow Smith says she's being stalked by a man who trekked from Oklahoma to L.A. to try to get into her home ... according to new legal docs she filed to get a restraining order against him.

In the docs, Will and Jada Pinkett's daughter claims 38-year-old Walter James Whaley climbed a fence to get onto her property around Christmas and appeared to be looking for a way to enter her house.

According to Willow ... her security called police and they showed up right away but Whaley wasn't apprehended at the time. However, she says cops found a Greyhound bus ticket indicating he'd traveled there from Oklahoma just a day before.

Willow included photos of the alleged incident that appear to show Whaley on her property, and she says this is frightening because it shows he "will do whatever possible to make physical contact with me."

According to the docs ... even before this all happened, Whaley had been hitting Willow up with social media posts saying he wanted to marry her and have kids with her.

She also says a private investigator she hired did some digging and determined Whaley is a convicted sex offender.

The woman who told the world she married Pete Davidson -- even though she didn't -- showed up inside his NYC home ... according to cops.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Michelle Mootreddy is currently in police custody being questioned by detectives after she allegedly slipped inside Pete's Staten Island crib.

Our sources say Mootreddy walked into Pete's place through an open side door Thursday and sat down at the kitchen table. We're told one of Pete's relatives was home, and someone called 911. We're told Pete wasn't home at the time.

Law enforcement says Mootreddy is the same person who sent out a press release Tuesday stating the 'SNL' star was launching a production company with her and claimed they'd gotten hitched.

As we first reported, Pete's reps said he doesn't know the woman, he didn't start a production company and damn sure did NOT get married to her.

Armie Hammer is now accused of rape ... by a woman who says she's reported the alleged crime to police, and law enforcement sources tell us he is under investigation for an alleged sexual assault.

The actor's accuser, Effie, claims Armie raped her for over 4 hours, during which he allegedly slapped her head against a wall and physically abused her with other acts of violence. She says the incident happened April 24, 2017 in Los Angeles.

Effie made her allegations Thursday during a news conference with her attorney, Gloria Allred. Effie claims she met Armie on Facebook in 2016, when she was 20, and they began a relationship which became violent and abusive.

Allred says Effie has provided law enforcement with evidence of the alleged rape, and prosecutors will have to decide if there's enough evidence to press charges against Hammer. Allred says she is not planning to file a lawsuit against Hammer.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... someone spoke with police about the alleged incident on Feb. 3 and cops started a sexual assault investigation, which is ongoing.

Hammer's attorney, Andrew Brettler, tells TMZ they believe Effie "undermines and refutes her outrageous allegations" because she sent Armie extremely sexual texts as recently as July 18, 2020. In the alleged text, Effie said, "Helplessly horny and I just need to tell you cuz it's been sooo long since last time." There's much more that's, frankly, too graphic for us to describe here ... but the point is she told Armie, in stark detail, what she wanted him to do to her.

He responded, "I am not going to be able to engage in you in that specific way right now. It never ends well. We can talk and be friends but I can't do that."

Brettler claims Effie sent hundreds of texts to Armie, and adds ... "It was never Mr. Hammer’s intention to embarrass or expose [Effie]'s fetishes or kinky sexual desires, but she has now escalated this matter to another level by hiring a civil lawyer to host a public press conference. With the truth on his side, Mr. Hammer welcomes the opportunity to set the record straight."

As you know ... Hammer's been embroiled in controversy since January after some shocking, but unverified, DMs he allegedly sent to women started surfacing on the Internet.

TMZ broke the story ... Hammer exited a J Lo movie shoot as a result of the scandal, but he told us, "I'm not responding to these b******* claims."

And then there's Hammer's ex-girlfriend, Paige Lorenze, who last month accused him of licking blood from a brand he allegedly forced upon her.

There's a deep-seated hatred for Asian people that goes well beyond Trump's COVID-19 rhetoric ... according to Rep. Andy Kim, who says -- in the wake of the Atlanta shootings -- it's time to confront the issue.

The U.S. Congressman joined TMZ Live Thursday to talk about the mass killing of 8 people, including 6 Asian women, by Robert Long -- who told cops his sex addiction, not racism, motivated his attack on massage parlors.

That claim doesn't sit well with Kim, who says it's not up to Long to make that determination, investigators need to dig and find his real motive.

He also believes the shooter fetishized, over-sexualized and objectified Asian women ... something Asian women live in fear of every day... according to the Congressman.

Amber Heard hasn't donated the full $7 million in her divorce settlement with Johnny Depp, but her vow to do so gave her credibility, and made Depp lose his defamation case ... that's his new legal argument, anyway.

Depp's lawyers are trying to appeal the ruling in his U.K. defamation case, in which he sued The Sun for libel over a 2018 article labeling him a "wife beater" ... but he took the L in November when the judge ruled there was evidence he'd abused Amber.

Amber was The Sun's star witness and took the stand to lay out her allegations of Depp's domestic violence during their marriage.

But, Johnny's lawyer, Andrew Caldecott, claimed in court Thursday that Heard's testimony was unfair because her promise to donate the $7 mil divorce settlement provided a "considerable boost to her credibility as a person" and "tipped the scales against Mr. Depp from the very beginning."

Translation: Depp's lawyer thinks the judge believed Amber because of her donation claims, but she hasn't actually donated all the money. In fact, he says she's only donated $100k of it ... so he thinks that entitles his client to a re-trial.

Here's the thing, though ... Heard's attorney responded to these claims already earlier this year. The lawyer, Elaine Bredehoft, admitted Amber has not yet fulfilled the entirety of the $7 mil pledge she made to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the ACLU ... but says that's only because Depp keeps suing her.

Bredehoft said, "Amber has already been responsible for seven figures in donations to charitable causes and intends to continue to contribute and eventually fulfill her pledge."

She adds ... "However, Amber has been delayed in that goal because Mr. Depp filed a lawsuit against her, and consequently, she has been forced to spend millions of dollars defending Mr. Depp's false accusations against her."

One of the first Britney Spears hearings since the release of a documentary about her conservatorship brought out a huge wave of #FreeBritney supporters ... but it looks like it was all for nothing.

Check out the scores of people who showed up to a courthouse in downtown L.A. Wednesday for a hearing in the case about hundreds of thousands Brit's trying to recoup for her conservatorship ... but nothing ended up happening on that front.

The judge continued the matter for another day -- and it looks like the whole hearing lasted about 20 minutes max. And, yet ... these folks were determined to have their voices heard. As you can see, the troupe showed up in force -- with signs and posters and even megaphones in hand.

It's unclear why they arrived for this one with such numbers ... it's the 2nd hearing since the release of 'Framing Britney Spears' on Feb. 5. On Feb. 11 -- the first such hearing following the controversial doc -- it was determined Jamie would stay on as co-conservator along with Bessemer Trust Company.

As for what was supposed to be happening today -- a judge could've officially weighed in on whether the estate could recoup the $308k Britney says her dad paid to her former business manager, Tri Star Sports & Entertainment Group.

Remember, Britney claimed after she stopped performing in early 2019 ... Tri Star allegedly asked Jamie for more dough, since the 5% commission they get from Brit is based on revenue from her getting on stage. They asked for $500k minimum per year, and Britney says Jamie shot 'em $308k and change ... without running it by her people, or trying to negotiate a better deal.

Rae Sremmurd's brother is facing a first-degree murder charge -- this after cops say he shot his own father, RS's stepdad, in cold blood.

Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi's half-bro, Michael Sullivan, has been charged with murder in Lee County, MS ... according to D.A. John Weddle, who tells us the indictment was handed up after a grand jury heard evidence in January.

We're told this is not a death penalty case -- but Michael still faces life in prison if convicted. He's still in custody ... no word when he's due again in court, or when the case will go to trial.

The D.A. wouldn't get into details of the alleged killing, other than to say Michael's biological father, Floyd Sullivan Jr., was shot at least once on Jan. 6, 2020 -- which is when word of his death first surfaced and Michael was detained as a person of interest.

As we told you ... Michael's mother, Bernadette Walker, told us she believed Michael might have been off his medication before the alleged shooting -- as she explained he'd been having episodes with her too before going to live with his dad.

Bernadette also revealed Michael is afflicted with Schizoaffective disorder, which lends to schizophrenia and everything that comes with it ... including mood swings, delusions, etc. It's unclear how this factored into what was presented to the grand jury -- but we were told he was held for a psychiatric evaluation before he was eventually arrested and taken to jail.

As for Swae and Slim ... they haven't said too much about the matter, but the former did tweet broken heart emojis shortly after the incident, as well as this in a since-deleted message ... "I pray this world let's me keep some compassion."

Breonna Taylor was killed one year ago today, and civil rights attorney Ben Crump marked the day with a cry for justice.

Crump tweeted, "1 year ago, Breonna Taylor was tragically killed in her own home, igniting a movement for racial justice and necessary change, which has prompted many cities and states to BAN no-knock warrants. 365 days have passed but the fight for justice for Breonna Taylor continues!!"

He called the killing a case of "sleeping while black," decrying the tragedy where Breonna was sprayed with 6 bullets from cops who executed the no-knock warrant in the middle of the night.

Breonna's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who was in the apartment with Breonna, filed a federal lawsuit Friday against the City of Louisville. Prosecutors have dropped all charges against Walker, who shot at one of the officers. Walker insisted the cops never announced themselves and thought they were home intruders. Cops say they did announce.

The FBI said Saturday it was reaffirming its commitment to continue investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Elizabeth Holmes won't be standing trial in July -- instead, she'll be giving birth, so prosecutors are hitting the pause button on criminal proceedings.

According to new legal docs, prosecutors and her defense team agreed to postpone Holmes' trial after the Theranos founder revealed she's pregnant and due in July. That's also when her trial was slated to begin.

Both sides now say they want jury selection to begin on August 31, but the judge still needs to sign off on that.

Elizabeth, of course, was the subject of the HBO doc 'The Inventor' -- who can forget that voice -- which chronicled her meteoric rise and fall with her company that was once valued at more than $9 billion.

Remember ... she's accused of making false claims about discovering a new way to revolutionize blood testing. She's been indicted for allegedly defrauding investors out of hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars and deceiving hundreds of patients and doctors with the bogus tests.

Elizabeth has pled not guilty. It looks like she'll get a month and change to settle into motherhood before she has to face the judge and jury.

Sebastian Telfair's sister just fessed up in court and admitted to threatening to kill the ex-NBA star's estranged wife -- and now, she's facing up to 5 years in prison over it all.

Octavia Telfair had been arrested in May 2019 after federal investigators said she spewed vile threats toward Samantha Telfair.

Prosecutors claimed after Samantha had testified against Sebastian in his gun case ... Octavia felt it was all treacherous, called Samantha repeatedly and left terrifying threats.

Samantha told investigators that Octavia had told her she would "kill my kids and cut my face." Investigators also said Octavia threatened to kill Samantha, her aunt and her siblings as well.

Octavia was initially charged with transmission of threats to injure ... and at a hearing Friday morning, TMZ Sports has confirmed she pleaded guilty to the charge.

"Yes, it was an argument with my sister-in-law, verbal argument," Octavia said on a video conference call with the court. "Yes, I admit it."

Octavia now faces up to 5 years in prison ... though the guilty plea will likely mean she'll spend far less time than that behind bars -- perhaps even no time at all depending on how the judge sees things.

Octavia is due back in court in July for a sentencing hearing.

Sebastian Telfair -- who famously appeared on Sports Illustrated's cover as a high schooler -- played for several teams in the NBA from 2004 to 2015.

He was a Trail Blazer's 1st-round pick in the '04 NBA Draft.

After his NBA career, Telfair was convicted of possessing an illegal firearm stemming from a June 2017 incident where he was caught with an arsenal of weapons during a traffic stop.

Officials say Telfair had 3 pistols, a semi-automatic rifle, a ton of ammo and a bulletproof vest ... as well as some weed.

He was sentenced to 3.5 years behind bars -- but was released in Sept. 2019 on $500,00 bail after only doing a few days in prison.

The maskless Uber riders who cops say coughed on and attacked their Bay Area driver are paying a hefty price -- one's been arrested and another is surrendering to police.

The San Francisco Police Department says Malaysia King is in custody ... she's reportedly the woman wearing red in the viral video showing the riders coughing, and snatching the driver's phone and mask.

Law enforcement says another suspect, Arna Kimiai, told SFPD through her lawyer that she plans to turn herself in soon. Kimiai is reportedly the one who grabbed the phone and declared, "I got corona."

There's NO bad blood between Patrick Ewing and James Dolan -- the two have spoken and smoothed things out after Ewing complained about the security protocol at Madison Square Garden, TMZ Sports has learned.

Of course, Ewing spent 15 seasons playing for the NY Knicks at MSG -- and his #33 jersey was retired and currently hangs in the rafters.

But, Ewing -- who's now the head basketball coach at Georgetown -- publicly griped about the treatment he received at the Garden on Thursday after his Hoyas upset Villanova at MSG.

"I do want to say one thing, though. I thought this was my building," Ewing said ... "And, I feel terrible that I'm getting stopped, accosted, [people] asking for passes."

Ewing continued ... "Everybody in this building should know who the hell I am, and I'm getting stopped -- I can't move around this building. I was like, 'What the hell? Is this Madison Square Garden?'"

"I'm gonna have to call Mr. Dolan and say geez ... is my number in the rafters or what?!"

Well, Ewing and Dolan DID speak later that day ... and a rep for MSG Entertainment broke it down this way.

"Jim and Patrick have a long-standing relationship; they spoke this afternoon and reaffirmed that."

"We all know, respect and appreciate what he means to The Garden and New York. Good luck to him and his Hoyas in the Big East semi-finals."

So, seems everything is cool now ... and the Hoyas can focus on their upcoming game against Seton Hall on Friday.