Crime

Bebe Rexha's former producer just got slapped with a stiff prison sentence for fraudulently using her credit card and racking up thousands of dollars in charges.

The guy's name is Anthony Evans, but he goes by Devine Evans in the music industry. He's worked with tons of artists and is apparently a Grammy winner too.

Devine was sentenced Monday in L.A. to two years in federal prison after he pled guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft. According to the feds, Devine was milking Bebe's Amex card to book flights and other travel for himself and his family back in 2017.

Prosecutors say this went on for damn near a year, and he ended up charging more than $37k to Bebe's account. Eventually, the singer's business manager caught wind of it and reported the suspicious transactions. Obviously, he got caught up in the whole thing.

It looks like the "Serial" book on Adnan Syed's case has officially been closed by the Supreme Court ... which just denied him a new trial.

The convicted murderer, whose case was famously scrutinized on the viral podcast, was shot down by the highest court in the land after several unsuccessful appeals in lower courts.

A Maryland state court reopened Syed's case in 2015 after new info came to light on the podcast -- namely, that his original lawyer didn't question a key witness who would have corroborated the Syed's alibi and possibly gotten him acquitted.

The witness, Asia McClain, spoke on "Serial" and said that she had seen Syed in the school library at the time he was allegedly supposed to be murdering the victim.

However, the state appealed and successfully argued that a different lawyer would not have changed the facts of the murder case -- which they believe definitively prove Syed did, in fact, strangle high schooler Hae Min Lee in 1999.

He'd been handed down a life sentence, but after taking it all the way to the Supreme Court ... it seems like he's run out of options. Seems.

A man who scored a $100,000 investment on "Shark Tank" might want to invest in a good lawyer, because he was just charged in a massive ecstasy bust.

Joseph Parisi was charged with 9 drug-related offenses after federal agents say he was caught getting ecstasy shipped to his Illinois home from the Netherlands. In total, officials say they seized over 600 grams of ecstasy, 7 grams of mushrooms, cocaine and 65 grams of weed.

The total estimated street value of the drugs is $80,000.

Parisi and a partner secured a $100,000 investment from Barbara Corcoran for Guard Llama ... a security remote system for people who might be in life-threatening situations. Kevin O'Leary and Barbara battled with dueling offers before the deal was struck.

R. Kelly's live-in girlfriend/alleged sex slave has reportedly gone on to make even more bombshell claims against him -- which run the gamut of alleged abuse.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times -- which says it has read Joycelyn Savage's latest Patreon posts since Saturday -- R. Kelly allegedly once impregnated Joycelyn and then forced her to have an abortion procedure in his own home ... this according to Joycelyn, supposedly.

Per CST, Joycelyn wrote that by late 2016, she became aware that she was knocked up -- going to describe it as "I realized I was pregnant by this monster ... Eventually, I ended up getting an abortion I was forced to get the surgery done at his house."

On another alleged occasion, Joycelyn reportedly writes on Patreon that she called R. Kelly "babe" instead of "Daddy" or "Master," and as a result ... she was allegedly attacked by him. She writes, "He grabbed me and choked me until I blacked out."

There's more, per the Chicago Sun-Times, Joycelyn reportedly went on to describe being peed on by R. Kelly "numerous times" and also allegedly being used as a "punching bag."

She also reportedly describes being constantly monitored by R. Kelly's handlers, including during media interviews ... as well as around the house, including while she showered. Joycelyn reportedly says she was once starved for days to rehearse for an on-camera statement.

Joycelyn also goes on to describe other women R. Kelly would allegedly bring home that stayed there "just like me, and they were definitely younger then me" ... per the Sun-Times.

A$AP Rocky says he would love to perform for the people he was locked up with in a Swedish jail, but has his doubts it would ever happen ... however the facility could actually grant his wish.

The Swedish Prison and Probation Service tells TMZ ... they haven't received any formal request from A$AP regarding a potential performance for the inmates, but they say they would take any such request seriously and at least discuss how they could make it happen.

In other words, prison officials tell us it's not an automatic no on their end.

You'll recall ... A$AP told us earlier this week he's going back to Sweden to help immigrants in the European country, and also said he wants to do a show inside the jail he spent a month in after he got into a street brawl in Stockholm.

Rocky told us he doubted a potential jail gig would even be possible because prisoners there aren't allowed out of their cells for more than an hour each day ... but it sounds like the Swedes are willing to work with him if he goes through the proper channels.

In the same convo, A$AP claims some immigrants in the jail wait between 10 months and 2 years to go before a judge ... but Swedish officials tell us Rocky's got his facts wrong, and only 15 percent of inmates go 4 months or more without seeing a judge.

Keep that in the memory bank for your next world trivia game!

One of R. Kelly's alleged sex slaves/live-in girlfriends is breaking her silence on the nature of her relationship with the jailed singer ... and it seems she's turning on him.

Joycelyn Savage -- whom her family believes has been under R. Kelly's control for years now -- posted on Instagram Saturday, saying that she's partnered with a paid-content site called Patreon to put out her side of the story, despite breaking an NDA she says she's signed.

JS's IG caption read, "I am risking my life for many others. ‪This story is 18+ and only for mature audience. I want to make sure my story is very detailed as I can remember." She also used Lizzo's "Truth Hurts" to tease her new venture ... pretty telling if you ask us.

It looks like the first chapter -- "Where It All Started" -- is out. According to the Daily Beast -- which says it's read Joycelyn's debut Patreon post -- Joycelyn seems to be throwing R. Kelly under the bus in her initial recounting and is airing his dirty laundry.

She gets into how she met him at a concert when she was 17, going on to say that it was a fun experience that left her with "mixed emotions." Joycelyn also reportedly added that R. Kelly promised her a music career, allegedly saying he'd make her the next Aaliyah.

Joycelyn then goes on say that she dropped out of college and moved in with him, but says things turned ugly fairly quickly ... as she claims he became incredibly controlling.

For example, Joycelyn reportedly writes ... "After these couple of months Robert started giving me commands, and making sure I call him by certain names. Like 'Master' or 'Daddy' which I didn’t really care for at the time." She continues, "If I wasn’t getting paid or pursuing my dream I would’ve went home, but all of that didn’t stop just yet."

Joycelyn adds, "But It started getting worse by day by day, he would raise his voice at me if I didn’t call him by those two names. If Robert called me I would have to reply with ‘Yes, daddy’ or 'Please daddy' he was so controlling."

She then claims R. Kelly threatened to torpedo her career if she ever left him or tried talking to her parents in private. Joycelyn claims R. Kelly said, "All this can stop today, you want a career? Or do you want to live a normal life."

R. Kelly is currently incarcerated and facing several sex abuse charges from different states.

Iggy Azalea and Playboi Carti's rental home was burglarized in Atlanta ... and the couple told cops a massive amount of jewelry was stolen!!!

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... officers responded to a residential burglary Sunday, and Iggy told cops a thief found a way into the couple's Buckhead mansion a few days before and made off with tons of bling.

Our sources say the missing items include custom rings, chains, bracelets, pendants, watches, earrings and even a diamond engagement ring. The missing jewelry is a mix of gold, diamonds, silver, platinum, pink sapphire and rose gold.

We're told the amount of missing jewelry is worth a whopping $366,000!!!

Our sources say Iggy told cops she was alone inside the home when the burglary went down, and she heard footsteps in the house but didn't think much of it at the time. Iggy told police it was raining, and she left a back door unlocked so Playboi Carti could get in the house ... and she also told cops she thought the thief had a gun.

We're told cops have security cam footage from the night of the burglary, and video shows the suspect leaving the house with a bag in hand.

The son of ex-'Real Housewives of Orange County' star Lauri Peterson is getting his wish to be transferred to a new jail, where he and his mom believe he'll be much safer.

A judge approved the move on Friday for Josh Waring. He'll be leaving lockup in the Orange County Jail and heading to the Santa Ana City Jail ... which means he'll no longer be in custody of OC Sheriff's deputies and corrections officers, who he and Lauri believe are trying to get him killed.

Josh will get all the same privileges -- library access, unlimited calls, healthcare, etc. -- he had at the OC jail. He's scheduled to be transferred later Friday.

We broke the story ... Josh was ambushed last month at the county jail and brutally attacked by another inmate wielding razors wrapped in towels. That inmate was supposed to be locked in his cell.

Waring suffered deep gashes to his chest and face, and he and his lawyer believe the incident is the latest proof his life was in danger in the OC jail.

In fact, Lauri told us the attack came after guards threatened to kill Josh and he'd already suffered multiple other assaults -- 3 by inmates and at least one by a guard.

Waring's lawyer, Joel Garson, believes it could be retaliation against Josh for filing a federal lawsuit against Orange County and its Sheriff's Department for violating his civil rights. He claims jail officials illegally recorded his attorney-client calls. That case is ongoing.

As for the October attack, you'll recall one of the correctional officers claimed Josh stated right afterward he knew the guards didn't set him up ... but Garson denied that and doubled down, saying the guard's claim is a "cover your ass" statement.

'RHOA' star Eva Marcille's baby daddy just revealed a key piece of evidence from his latest arrest -- video of his scuffle with a cop down an escalator.

Kevin McCall posted the courthouse surveillance footage on his Instagram, which is of him talking to the officer ... then cuts to a shot of the cop chasing McCall down an escalator in an effort to detain him.

The officer then appears to bodyslam McCall before another cop jumps in to help.

We broke the story ... Kevin says he was injured in the scuffle and plans to sue, and believes he was targeted simply because he's black. According to his latest post, he believes the video supports his theory. He captioned it ... "Hands Up...Don't shoot #thetruthuntold"

McCall's own Instagram Live video from before the altercation shows what led up to the tussle -- the courthouse officer tells him he needs to stop recording video on his phone ... but he refuses, calls him a b*tch and challenges him to fight.

You may recall ... Kevin was in court to challenge Eva for custody of their 5-year-old daughter, Marley Rae. Instead, he ended up in jail and booked on 5 charges -- 4 misdemeanors and one felony count of criminal damage to property in the 2nd degree.

Jerod Sechrist -- known for his brief and turbulent stint on "Deadliest Catch" -- is in even more hot water now ... he's been arrested for allegedly shoplifting from IKEA.

The 33-year-old was picked up on a warrant for grand theft this week in Tampa and has been booked on a felony charge. According to police docs ... Sechrist loaded up a shopping cart with $1,034 worth of electronics in early October and left the store without paying, then tried to flee on his bicycle while pulling the cart full of goods behind him.

Cops say Sechrist was stopped by security and photographed before he bailed on the stolen items and took off on his bike. The incident was allegedly his fifth time stealing from the IKEA.

According to the docs ... cops worked with security staff at the store to review surveillance footage and match the suspect on camera with Sechrist, then obtained the warrant for his arrest on November 20. He was taken in without incident.

What's more interesting -- according to police -- is Sechrist's alleged theft occurred around the same time he was busted for drugs. We broke that story ... Sechrist was arrested for drug possession -- specifically felony possession of heroin and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

We're told he was released from jail earlier this month, but alas ... he's back again.

Dorial Green-Beckham pled guilty in his weed case Friday ... but he reportedly got off with a slap on the wrist -- with a judge sentencing him to just probation.

Green-Beckham was busted in a wild arrest back on Dec. 19 ... when police executed a search warrant at a Springfield, Miss. home.

Cops say they were staking out the place when Green-Beckham showed up and went inside ... and say when they raided the home, DGB tried to escape by jumping out of a window.

That's when they say they tased the 26-year-old former NFL player, put him in cuffs and found two small bags of weed in his pocket.

In video of the arrest, obtained by TMZ Sports, you can see the 6-foot-5, 236-pound ex-receiver being taken away by officers.

Eventually, Green-Beckham was charged with resisting arrest and possessing 10 grams or less of marijuana -- both misdemeanors.

But, Green-Beckham -- who had to spend 90 days in jail after the incident because he had his probation revoked in a previous DWI case -- cut a deal with prosecutors on Friday to close out the case.

Details of the agreement are unclear ... we've reached to Green-Beckham's attorney, the district attorney's office AND the court, and nobody seems to have any answers, which is odd because that's their JOB! (Get it together, people!).

But, according to court records, Green-Beckham pled guilty to at least ONE charge in a Missouri courtroom Friday, hence the punishment.

KY3 in Missouri reports the judge sentenced DGB to 2 years probation ... which is a sweet deal for the guy, considering he was facing 180 days behind bars for the alleged crimes.

Penn State villain Jerry Sandusky arrived to a Pennsylvania courtroom Friday to beg for a reduced sentence in his child molestation case ... and he was all smiles.

The 75-year-old disgraced football coach is currently serving 30-60 years in prison after he was found guilty of 45 counts of child sexual abuse back in 2012.

Remember, Sandusky was convicted of using his youth charity, The Second Mile, to sexually assault 10 boys ... some of whom were raped at the Penn State campus.

But in February, a state court of appeals ruled that mandatory minimum prison sentencing were incorrectly applied in Sandusky's case ... which opens the door for a lighter sentence.

Sandusky will obviously beg for a significant reduction -- though it's unlikely he'll get a substantial decrease.

In other words, it's still more than likely he'll die in prison.

For his part, Sandusky has always maintained his innocence and has accused everyone from the victims to the media to the University of conspiring against him.

Country Star Sam Hunt was arrested Thursday AM for drunk driving.

Hunt was allegedly driving the wrong way down a Nashville street when cops spotted him and pulled him over. Witnesses say he had been swerving as well.

According to police, Hunt smelled of booze and his eyes were bloodshot. Police say there were 2 empty beer cans next to him.

Police say Hunt, whose hits include "Drinkin' Too Much," had trouble pulling out his driver's license and instead handed cops a credit card and a passport. They also say he admitted to "recently" drinking.

Cops did a field sobriety test, and police say his blood alcohol level was .173 ... more than twice the legal limit.

Hunt was released Thursday morning after posting $2,500 bond. He's scheduled to appear in court January 17.

A Lyft driver pulled a female passenger out of his car, and allegedly started to attack her -- kicking off a chain reaction of fights with concerned passersby.

TMZ got a hold of this WILD surveillance video recorded Tuesday afternoon in L.A., and it starts with the car -- which has the Lyft emblem in the back window -- parked curbside along busy Melrose Avenue. Then the male driver hops out, and pulls a young woman from the seat behind him and starts dragging her out of the vehicle while tossing her stuff out at the same time.

The woman, actress Alessandra Starr Ward, tells TMZ the whole thing started when she started playing a song called "Te Bote" from her phone. The driver demanded she turn it off, she refused, and they started arguing. He allegedly threatened to boot her from the car, and she told him she'd call police if he did.

In the clip, you can see Alessandra fighting back, but the driver pushed her down and knocked her over. Drivers in other cars saw it unfolding and a few guys stopped to help.

That's when it really hit the fan ... several guys teamed up on the Lyft driver, who continued fighting back, and in the scuffle ... Alessandra got knocked down again. It took one guy putting the Lyft driver in a chokehold to finally calm things down.

We're told nearby police officers were flagged down, and cited the Lyft driver for misdemeanor battery. As for Alessandra, she says she went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a concussion. She also says she has bruises all over her body, a sprained ankle and a black eye.

She tells us Lyft needs to vet its drivers, as this shouldn't happen to anyone. It's unclear if she plans to pursue legal action against the rideshare company.

Josh Duggar has Homeland Security crawling around the car dealership where he works in Arkansas, and it's related to a federal investigation ... TMZ has learned.

Agents went to the dealership in Springdale, AR in connection to a federal probe ... according to sources close to the situation. There were reports the feds had raided the Duggar family home, but we're told that's not the case. Agents have only been at Josh's place of employment ... at least for now.

It's unclear exactly what the nature of the investigation is, or if Josh was the target. A Homeland Security spokesman would only confirm agents were at the dealership.

The Duggars rose to fame thanks to a pair of reality shows, '19 Kids' and "Counting On." But, as we reported, TLC eventually pulled the plug on '19 Kids' in 2015 following Josh Duggar's child molestation scandal.

Josh's only current legal dispute, that we know of, is a lawsuit filed against him for real estate fraud.

A Duggar family spokesperson says it's not true "any member of our family is the target of any investigation of any kind." The spokesperson added, "Living a life in the public's eye has taught us that it is best not to reply to every rumor and piece of 'fake news' that is circulated online. It would be a full-time job if we attempted to do so."

Story developing ...

A$AP Rocky just got catapulted to "primary" status in the impeachment investigation of President Trump ... due to the EU Ambassador's testimony about a phone call regarding the rapper's Swedish assault case.

Rocky got roped into Wednesday's hearing because EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland said while he was sitting in a restaurant in Kiev on July 26 ... Trump called him and the "primary purpose" of their chat was A$AP.

Sondland testified Wednesday they mostly discussed A$AP's imprisonment in Sweden ... despite claims the phone call involved Trump inquiring about the Ukrainian government investigating Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

As you'll recall, the rapper was jailed in Sweden for nearly 5 weeks as he awaited trial for assault following an altercation with a man on the street. He was eventually found guilty by a panel of judges, but with no further jail time ... Rocky bolted back to the States.

Trump was very vocal about the unfair treatment of Rocky and his administration got involved ... and Sondland says that's what they discussed on that July 26 call.

However -- pertaining to the impeachment investigation -- Sondland later testified the phone call also "included the subject of investigations" into the Bidens, and stated there was a quid pro quo established between Trump and Ukraine.