Crime

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz made his first court appearance in his pitch rigging case on Monday ... with the 26-year-old being granted his release with several conditions.

Ortiz appeared before a judge in Boston ... where he walked out of the courthouse after posting a $500,000 bond, $50K being secured. He was ordered to surrender his passport ... and his travel has been restricted to the Northeast.

Cameras were rolling as Luis left in a tracksuit, but he kept his lips sealed as he got into the waiting vehicle.

Antonio Brown's fighting back against claims he tried to shoot and kill someone at a celebrity boxing match earlier this year, pleading not guilty to 2nd degree attempted murder ... an incident his attorney is adamant was nothing more than self-defense!

AB hired Mark Eiglarsh ahead of his trial ... and the lawyer sent TMZ Sports a statement addressing the altercation at Adin Ross' event, explaining he took the case because he "passionately believes in Brown's defense."

"The actions he was forced to take were solely in self-defense against the alleged victim's violent behavior," Eiglarsh said. "Brown was attacked that night and acted within his legal right to protect himself from an individual who had previously committed criminal acts against him. It's a privilege to represent him, and I am determined to ensure that justice is served."

Donald Trump is on a pardoning spree ... now wiping the slate clean for Rudy Giuliani and dozens of his close allies accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election.

Ed Martin -- the Department of Justice’s Pardon Attorney -- made the announcement on X Sunday night ... posting a signed proclamation that says the order "ends a grave national injustice perpetrated upon the American people following the 2020 Presidential Election and continues the process of national reconciliation."

Giuliani is one of the 77 people Trump is pardoning ... including former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and his attorneys Sidney Powell and John Eastman.

YFN Lucci is doing what he humanly couldn't do just a few years ago -- pound the pavement and promote his new album!!!

TMZ Hip Hop linked with Lucci this week during his latest run in NYC for his "Already Legend." album ... dripping in designer, and the Atlanta-born star says he feels like he's living the dream with a 2nd chance.

Lucci was released from prison back in January after serving nearly four years for violating Georgia's Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.

Rapper Maxo Kream can get back to rolling in peace ... he cut a deal with prosecutors and got the criminal case against him stemming from a traffic stop in Texas last July dropped!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained docs signed by a judge on Friday, Nov. 7, showing the case has been dismissed ... thanks to a deal with prosecutors arranged by his legal team.

Maxo had been charged with unlawful carrying of guns by a registered gang member after police say they found 2 in the vehicle on July 7 ... but now the case has been dropped in exchange for the rapper forfeiting the guns and agreeing to some community service and a gun safety class.

Donald Trump just made Darryl Strawberry's year -- the President of the United States has pardoned the New York Mets legend in his 1995 tax evasion case.

The three-time World Series champ revealed the news on Friday ... expressing his gratitude in a detailed Instagram post. He revealed POTUS personally called him on Thursday afternoon to inform him of the clemency.

"Yesterday I was home caring for my wife as she recovered from surgery, when my phone kept ringing relentlessly," Strawberry said.

11:41 AM PT -- Mark's Brother Nick Sanchez Jr., on behalf of the Sanchez family, tells TMZ Sports ... "It's been a long month for Mark as he continues to recover from serious injuries while also grieving the loss of a close friend. While the recent news — and its timing — is understandably disappointing, our priority remains his continued healing and recovery. Mark deeply values his time at FOX and the exceptional colleagues he’s had the privilege to work with. Those relationships are meaningful and will endure."

A month after Mark Sanchez was involved in a near-fatal fight while in Indianapolis to call an NFL game for FOX, the company has handed the quarterback-turned-broadcaster his pink slip, TMZ Sports has learned.

A FOX Sports spokesperson tells us ... "We can confirm that Mark Sanchez is no longer with the network. There will be no further comment at this time."

We broke the story in early October -- Sanchez, in town to call the Colts vs. Raiders football game, was involved in a bizarre altercation where he allegedly attacked a 69-year-old delivery driver ... prompting the man to stab Mark in self-defense, nearly killing him.

Antonio Brown stood before a judge in New Jersey on Friday morning -- his first appearance in his attempted murder case -- where the former NFL superstar agreed to be transferred to Florida, where he'll fight the felony charge.

Officials for the Essex County Prosecutors' Office tell TMZ Sports that 37-year-old Brown appeared before Judge Barry earlier today and "executed a waiver of extradition," meaning he won't fight being shipped to Miami, the location of the incident that led to the charge.

We're told AB will be held in the Essex County Jail until officials from Florida can come pick him up.

The teenage daughter of an Arizona man who died by suicide after pleading guilty to murdering his 2-year-old daughter apparently isn’t shocked by what happened ... at least according to the teen's former guardian.

Lindsay Eisenberg -- who previously served as guardian to Christopher Scholtes’ 17-year-old daughter -- tells TMZ ... she was the first to break the news of his death to the teen.

Eisenberg says the girl told her she wasn’t surprised her father took his own life -- and even said she had a feeling it was coming.

A man in Florida walked into a bar and got into a heated argument about how many eggs chickens can lay ... and then he grabbed a gun and opened fire ... and no, this isn't a joke.

Cops in Port St. Lucie say 44-year-old Peter Riera fired shots Tuesday morning outside Harpers Pub ... and police body camera footage, obtained by TMZ, shows Riera being taken into custody.

Police say Riera got into an argument with three people outside the pub who he claimed were trying to con him.

Tony Allen pleaded with cops to hear him out during his drug arrest ... insisting he had nothing to do with "all the extra s***" officers found in the vehicle he was riding in on Wednesday.

TMZ Sports has obtained the bodycam footage of the ex-NBA star's run-in with police in Arkansas ... which shows an emotional Allen insisting the alleged cocaine discovered in the whip was not his -- and an incident like this would torpedo his image.

When the cop initially pulled up to the car, he asked Allen and the driver if either had weed on them or had smoked in the vehicle recently. The driver admitted he sparked up in it the night before ... and his grinder might have some flower in it, although he wasn't sure.

Jamal Anderson, former Atlanta Falcons star running back, was arrested in Los Angeles on Tuesday after an alleged physical altercation.

Cops told NBC L.A. that they responded to a home in the San Fernando Valley for an alleged dispute around 11 AM. While there, they determined that the dispute began as a verbal argument but escalated into a physical altercation, with Anderson allegedly strangling the victim.

Jamal was eventually thrown in cuffs and hauled off to jail on suspicion of felony domestic violence. Jail records indicate he is currently being held on $50,000 bond.

A nurse in Germany came up with a novel way to lighten his workload ... he reportedly murdered 10 of his patients.

The nurse, whose name was not released, was given a life sentence in prison Wednesday after he was convicted of murdering all 10 patients by lethal injection, and attempting to kill 27 more, according to CNN.

During the trial, prosecutors accused the nurse of trying to cut his evening workload by giving his mostly geriatric patients doses of painkillers and sedatives in a hospital near the German city of Aachen, CNN said.

Kim Kardashian is opening up about the scary time she's been going through ... she was told who put a hit out on her life -- by someone in prison.

The reality star and business mogul spoke briefly about the terrifying situation in the preview for next week's "The Kardashians" episode. Check out the clip -- she says someone in prison informed her who it was who ordered her dead.

The topic was previously discussed during the trailer for the ongoing season of the hit Hulu series. Kim says investigators called her and informed her someone "extremely close" to her wanted her gone.

Former "American Idol" contestant Randy Madden is back on the streets after being charged for allegedly having sex with a minor ... but his release on bond comes with a lot of restrictions ... including on contact with people under the age of 18.

According to the court docket, Madden is to have no contact with the alleged victim in his case or anyone who is considered a minor.

We broke the story ... Randy is facing six felony charges in Ventura County, California, including oral copulation of a person under 18 and unlawful sexual intercourse.

Bryan Kohberger's attorneys say their client shouldn't have to pay $27K in restitution ... thought it appears he may still have to pay for the cost of the urns and other funeral expenses for his victims.

The convicted murderer's legal team was back in court Wednesday ... with Elisa Massoth leading the argument claiming Kohberger shouldn't have to pay up -- because the families of his victims already received tons of money from GoFundMe accounts they set up for travel and accommodation expenses.

The proceedings had a wrinkle thrown in immediately when Prosecutor Bill Thompson admitted he thought money agreed upon in the plea agreement could be used to reimburse victims in the case for travel expenses ... however, that's not allowed, and Thompson copped to the mistake, essentially withdrawing his request for $27K.