Crime

Lawyers for Sean "Diddy" Combs are arguing his sentence is far too harsh ... accusing the judge in a new legal filing of punishing him for crimes for which he was acquitted.

The rapper's legal team filed an appeal Friday in which they point out a jury found Diddy not guilty of sex trafficking and RICO charges ... yet Diddy received a sentence his lawyers say is roughly four times higher than normal for his prostitution-related Mann Act convictions.

Diddy's lawyers blast his 50-month sentence as a "perversion of justice."

The FBI has some new information to pore over in the Nancy Guthrie case ... 'cause the feds have been able to recover more images from surveillance cameras at her Arizona home.

According to ABC News, the feds recovered thumbnail images from Nancy's motion-activated cameras that were pointed at her swimming pool, backyard and side yard.

The report says the images show several people in the backyard and side yard ... and they are from before Nancy's abduction and shortly afterward, including the law enforcement response.

Interestingly, the cameras did not capture anything on the night of the abduction ... other than what the FBI has already released, showing a masked suspect with a backpack.

D4vd's good friend Neo is a friend no more ... at least that's the way it seems based on how he is privately torching the singer.

Neo, as you know, was arrested last month for failing to appear before a grand jury in the apparent murder of Celeste Rivas, and D4vd is the prime suspect.

Neo, who appeared before the grand jury for only 40 minutes, clearly did not offer much info, but now he says he knows a lot.

According to Neo's private Instagram posts -- posted Friday and shared via "Close Friends" -- he says, "Thankfully I'm legally fine in every way, AND BOI DO I GOT ALL MY RECEIPTS FOR THINGS HAHAHAHA."

The Georgia teen who allegedly ran over a math teacher, killing him during a prank gone wrong a week ago will NOT face criminal charges ... and the teen's buddies won't be charged either.

18-year-old student Jayden Wallace was facing first-degree vehicular homicide after running over math teacher Jason Hughes in his truck.

Wallace was also charged with reckless driving, criminal trespass and littering on private property ... but Hall County District Attorney Lee Darragh dropped all the charges.

"Southern Hospitality" star Grace Lilly’s struggle with substance abuse is set to play out on the current season following her recent arrest ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the series tell us Grace’s battle with addiction will be a part of her journey on this season of the hit Bravo show, which is currently airing.

It's unclear how exactly the series with tackle addressing the star's substance abuse, but we're told fans will be able to learn more by tuning in.

Ivanna Ortiz -- the woman accused of shooting up Rihanna's house earlier this week -- allegedly sent her estranged husband messages about the singer weeks before the shooting.

In new court documents, Jed Valdez Sangalang attached an email he says Ortiz sent to him on January 26 that reads ... "I need you to renounce Rihanna and confess that I'm better than her. Let it be done. You gotta let me know so that door can be closed."

Sangalang says he learned of the Sunday shooting Monday after receiving calls and emails about Ortiz ... including some from news agencies asking for more information.

Retired Air Force Major General William Neil McCasland went missing last month … and his wife is fed up with all the misinformation about his disappearance. He vanished two weeks ago, on February 27, from his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Neil's disappearance has been getting some attention because he spent his final two years in the USAF as a commander at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio … which has a lot of lore when it comes to UFOs.

Here’s where the conspiracy theories come in -- many people believe the base contains evidence of aliens from a mysterious 1947 crash in Roswell, NM.

But Neil’s wife, Susan McCasland Wilkerson, took to Facebook to insist her husband “does not have any special knowledge about the ET bodies and debris from the Roswell crash stored at Wright-Patt.”

She wrote … “This connection is not a reason for someone to abduct Neil.”

She also acknowledged Neil had access to some pretty classified stuff during his time in the Air Force, but thinks it’s “quite unlikely” that someone kidnapped him in order to learn his "very dated secrets."

The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office in New Mexico says Neil was home and spoke to a repairman at 10 AM on Feb. 27, a Friday. Susan left for a doctor’s appointment around 11 AM … but her husband was gone when she got back about an hour later.

Police say his phone and glasses were still at home, but his hiking boots and wallet were gone … along with a .38-caliber revolver.

Investigators found a gray USAF sweatshirt just over a mile away from Neil’s home, but no one’s confirmed if it’s actually his.

In her post, Susan mentioned there’s “absolutely no sign” of her husband, adding … “Maybe the best hypothesis is that aliens beamed him up to the mothership. However, no sightings of a mothership hovering above the Sandia Mountains have been reported.”

Laken Snelling's Snapchat could hold the key to prosecutors securing a conviction in their manslaughter case against her.

Local news station WKYT-TV obtained Snelling's full case file ... and, in it, cops asked a judge to sign off on a warrant for the former University of Kentucky cheerleader's Snapchat account.

When explaining why, cops cited the Snapchat group message the roommates used to communicate ... in which one of the roommates asked about a sound they heard at 4 AM on August 27, 2025 -- and another confirmed they heard it too.

Laken later responded in the chat -- just before 9 AM -- that she passed out and fell, causing the noise. After leaving the house, her roommates told cops they went to her room and found a deceased baby in a bag in the closet.

Swing and a miss for Blake Lively ... she tried to get legal sanctions against one of Justin Baldoni's lawyers ... but a judge wasn't buying it.

Here's the deal ... Blake's legal team filed a motion back in August, complaining to a judge about what Bryan Freedman was saying about her in the media. She asked the judge to sanction Freedman.

Well, on Friday, the judge denied Blake's motion ... according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ.

Victoria Gotti says she would rather forgo a kidney transplant from her son and let her disease take over her body than watch her oldest child heal from the procedure in prison.

TMZ spoke with Victoria on Thursday, and she tells us her rationale is rooted in what happened to her infamous dad, New York mobster John Gotti, when he went to federal prison.

Victoria says her father -- the former head of the Gambino crime family, who was convicted of racketeering and murder at his federal trial in 1992 -- died of throat cancer behind bars in 2002 at the age of 61.

She says she saw how her dad was treated with his health issues in prison, and she doesn't want that for her son, Carmine.

Andrea Constand -- who sent Bill Cosby to prison with her testimony about how he drugged and sexually assaulted her -- is now reportedly helping out a new victim of the disgraced actor-comedian.

Constand once again took the witness stand to give testimony on Thursday, but this time it was for a civil case filed by 84-year-old Cosby accuser, Donna Motsinger, according to The New York Times. Motsinger, a former waitress, claims she was 31 when Cosby drugged and raped her in 1972 after he brought her to one of his comedy shows.

Constand and two other women are being called as witnesses in the civil case because their stories are similar to Motsinger's. During hours of testimony in L.A. Superior Court, Constand described her horrific experience with Cosby in 2004 when she was the director of operations for the women’s basketball program at Temple University. Cosby was her mentor, who was an important alumnus at the college.

"Southern Hospitality" star Grace Lilly was arrested Tuesday ... and it looks like drugs were allegedly involved.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ, Grace was busted for possession of a controlled substance.

It appears Gracy has already been released from custody.

It's the second time in three months Grace has been arrested in South Carolina ... as we first told you, she got busted back in December in Charleston.

Cole Goldberg -- who was accused of trying to kill "90 Day Fiancé" alum Caroline Schwitzky -- has been found not guilty of attempted murder.

Goldberg was acquitted of the crime in a West Palm Beach, Florida courtroom on Thursday after three days of testimony.

Remember ... Schwitzky accused Goldberg of attempted murder back in 2022 -- claiming the two got into a heated argument at the Boca Bash that year, after she dumped Goldberg, and he then held her head underwater.

Witnesses told cops they yelled at Cole to stop, but he kept holding her down. Several people eventually jumped into the water to pull the couple apart.

Atlanta Falcons defensive end James Pearce Jr. is no longer facing a charge of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer after his alleged domestic dispute with Rickea Jackson, TMZ Sports has learned.

Court documents we obtained show that prosecutors have dropped the charge against the 22-year-old. A spokesperson for the DA said in evaluating all the evidence, they didn't believe they could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

It's a small break for Pearce -- the charge comes with up to five years behind bars.

He isn't out of the woods at all, though ... as prosecutors filed a handful of other charges in the incident -- including stalking, fleeing and eluding police, resisting an officer with violence, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

A survivor of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse says she can't remember all of the horrors he inflicted on her ... because her traumatized brain blocked the memories out.

We spoke to Marina Lacerda -- known as "Minor Victim-1" in legal documents, who revealed her identity back in September -- and asked her about a turning point in her association with the convicted pedophile.

Marina tells a story about gathering with other survivors of Epstein in recent years ... and, she says she was shocked to hear other survivors talk about Epstein raping them.

Rapper 42 Dugg is off the hook after he was charged with making malicious threats to a woman in Michigan ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs, the “Grace” rapper -- real name Dion Hayes -- sent messages to the unnamed individual between November 12, 2024 and March 11, 2025 with intent to "terrorize, frighten, intimidate, threaten, harass, molest, annoy, or disturb" the individual.

Prosecutors say the alleged victim was pregnant with his child when the threats were made ... and claim he sent such messages with the intent of coercing her to get an abortion. It's unclear if any baby was brought to term.

Hayes was also accused of threatening physical harm against her family.

He pleaded not guilty during his January court appearance, according to court docs. Hayes faced 6 months in the clink and a $1,000 fine if found guilty.