Posted by ChasinDatPaper on February 12, 2020 at 12:35pm
More trouble for former UFC star BJ Penn ... the fighting legend is reportedly under police investigation for DUI after crashing his truck in Hawaii last week.
Police in Hilo tell Big Island Now, Penn was driving a black Toyota Tacoma pickup at around 7 PM on Feb. 7 when it crashed along a main highway.
Cops say a 911 caller indicated 41-year-old Penn had been speeding ... and say the crash was gnarly, with the truck losing control and flipping into an area near a mall.
TMZ Sports has learned Penn was taken to the hospital after the accident ... but we're told he's okay and was released shortly after.
Puna Patrol Cpt. Ken Quiocho says the investigation into Penn for possible drunk driving remains open.
It's the latest in a string of recent issues for Penn ... who was at the center of TWO street fights in Hawaii the last couple months. Most recently, he got knocked out in a slug-fest outside the Lava Shack on the Big Island in a fight captured on video.
Things have gotten so bad for Penn, at least optically, UFC honcho Dana White said he will never allow Penn to fight again in his league.
"What I saw in that video was sad," White said of the footage of Penn brawling in the Hawaii streets ... "And, I love the kid and I hope he gets his life together."
"If BJ Penn needed me, all he needs to do is pick up the phone and ask."
Posted by ChasinDatPaper on February 12, 2020 at 12:21pm
Mya's been holding a big secret for months ... we've learned she said "I Do" in a super-secret wedding down in Seychelles.
Sources close to the singer tell TMZ ... Mya walked down the aisle back in December in a very intimate ceremony on the island nation off the African coast. We obtained these pics of her on the beach in her gown ... looking absolutely stunning.
If the wedding seems like a shock to you, it is to us too. It's unclear who Mya's spouse is -- and she hasn't publicly dated anyone in years.
In the past, she's been linked to NFL stars DeSean Jackson and Larry Johnson, plus rappers Jay-Z and The Game. So, her partner's got big shoes to fill.
This was Mya's first walk down the aisle. As for the 40-year-old singer's mystery ball and chain? We've got a call in to her people.
We know this ... they had killer weather! Always a toss-up with beach weddings.
Posted by ChasinDatPaper on February 12, 2020 at 11:29am
Cleveland Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett has been reinstated by the NFL, following his helmet swinging fight last season against Mason Rudolph of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
During Antonio Brown's nine years as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, he and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger produced big numbers.
They were friends, but things seemed to sour towards the end.
Brown constantly took shots at Roethlisberger after he was traded to the Oakland Raiders in March of 2019.
He said things like “Just had to get my ends”, calling Roethlisberger “two-face”, blamed Ben for several things after the Raiders and Patriots parted ways with him, and maybe most notably, called him “that loser.”
On Wednesday Brown had a change of heart and apologized to his former teammate via Instagram.
"Mostly you a little bit of me!," Brown captioned a photo with himself and Big Ben on the field togeter. "Yee yee !! I never realized how good I had it, got caught up in my emotion with everyone coming after me I really apologize for my actions sincerely man ! It’s never been another connection like what we done in the past decade. I appreciate you. Sincerely AB."
Brown has been making amends as of late.
The NFL free agent wide receiver publicly apologized to his baby mama, Chelsie Kryiss, for all the drama they've gone through.
In addition, Brown expressed his gratitude to the Steelers organization last week.
It takes a lot to admit when you're wrong. Hopefully, Brown is finally back on the right path and will eventually find his way back onto the football field.
NEW YORK (AP) - An ex-convict accused of bilking several college students out of nearly $1 million and forcing some into prostitution or unpaid labor was arrested Tuesday on extortion and sex trafficking charges.
Lawrence “Larry” Ray was previously known for his role in helping to send former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik, who was a close confidant of Rudy Giuliani, to prison.
Federal prosecutors said Ray, 60, used “physical, sexual and psychological abuse” to extort money from five different students at Sarah Lawrence College, a private liberal arts college outside New York City. He convinced them they were indebted to him, authorities said, subjecting them to “grueling interrogations” that spanned hours and deprived them of food and sleep.
Ray was taken into custody Tuesday and expected to appear hours later in Manhattan federal court. He had previously denied the allegations, saying they were the result of a conspiracy against him. It was not clear whether he had a defense attorney who could comment on the charges.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman told reporters the investigation was prompted by an article that appeared last year in New York magazine.
Ray allegedly ensnared many of his victims while they were college sophomores at Sarah Lawrence. His first victims were his daughters' roommates, Berman said.
Ray moved into the students' on-campus housing in late 2010, presented himself as a father figure to the roommates and began conducting “therapy” sessions with them, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court.
Prosecutors said he alienated them from their parents, persuading some of them to move into a Manhattan apartment and convincing them they were “broken."
“After gaining his victims' trust, Ray turned on them, falsely accusing them of harming him by attempting to poison him or to deliberately damage his property,” Berman said.
Ray solicited false confessions from more than a half-dozen victims, Berman said, and coerced them to make payments "they did not actually owe and could not possibly afford.” Prosecutors said Ray recorded some of the confessions.
In interviews with New York magazine, Ray said he believed he was being poisoned as part of a conspiracy hatched by some of the students and Kerik, who denied any involvement.
Sarah Lawrence said Tuesday that it has not been contacted by federal prosecutors but would cooperate “if invited to do so.”
The college said it investigated the allegations raised in the New York magazine article but “did not substantiate those specific claims.”
“The charges contained in the indictment are serious, wide-ranging, disturbing and upsetting,” the college said in a statement. “As always the safety and well-being of our students and alumni is a priority for the college.”
Prosecutors allege that Ray directed the students to drain money from their parents' savings accounts and forced some of them into unpaid labor at a family member's property in North Carolina. Others opened lines of credit or solicited contributions from others to help pay the false debts.
“Ray subjected his victims to almost unspeakable abuse,” Berman said, alleging Ray once tied a woman to a chair and placed a plastic bag over her head that nearly suffocated her. Ray collected more than $500,000 from that woman after forcing her into prostitution, prosecutors said.
Ray previously played a role in a scandal involving Kerik, a former police driver for Giuliani while he was mayor. Kerik became New York City’s corrections commissioner in 1998 and then its police commissioner from 2000 to 2001, serving during the 9/11 attacks.
Kerik nearly became President George Bush’s homeland security secretary in 2004, but his name was abruptly withdrawn as the nominee.
Two days later, The Daily News reported that Ray, who had been the best man at Kerik’s wedding, had come forward with evidence that Kerik failed to report thousands of dollars in gifts he’d received while working for the city. A the time, Ray was under indictment in a $40 million stock scam.
Kerik ultimately served nearly four years in prison for tax fraud, making false statements and other charges related to gifts he accepted from companies looking for favors, including a construction firm that wanted his help getting a city license.
Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna have been laid to rest, according to multiple reports.
The two were buried in a private ceremony in Corona Del Mar, California, on Feb. 7, according to the reports.
Multiple publications cited the death certificates as confirming the ceremony, while Entertainment Tonight spoke with somebody in touch with Bryant’s widow Vanessa Bryant.
“Vanessa and the family wanted a private service to mourn their loss," the source told ET. “The ceremony was extremely hard for everyone as it's still hard for them to grasp they lost two beautiful souls.”
Kobe and Gianna died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, on Jan. 26 alongside seven others on board the craft. They were traveling to attend a youth basketball tournament hosted at Bryant’s Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks.
An investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing and expected to take at least another year to complete. The latest development from the probe shows that the helicopter did not suffer engine damage before it crashed into a hillside.
While the private ceremony has been conducted, a public ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 24 at Staples Center, the home of the Los Angles Lakers. The date is symbolic as it pays homage to the No. 2 basketball jersey Gianna wore and the No. 24 Kobe wore in his later years as a member of the Lakers.
Jussie Smollett is facing felony charges in Chicago again -- the special prosecutor just announced an indictment against the actor for the alleged homophobic attack against him last year.
A grand jury handed up the new indictment against Jussie on Tuesday. Dan Webb was appointed special prosecutor for the case last summer. We're told he's now facing 6 felony counts for lying to law enforcement. The indictment calls the 6 charges "disorderly conduct," but all 6 involve allegations of lying to cops.
This effectively re-opens the controversial case that led to Smollett getting fired from "Empire."
Special Prosecutor Webb says Jussie "planned and participated in a staged hate crime attack, and thereafter made numerous false statements to Chicago Police Dept. officers."
Webb adds the new charges -- pared down from 16 to 6 -- were re-filed "in the interest of justice." Webb was critical of the State's Attorney who dismissed the case, saying Kim Foxx's office had no additional evidence from what the Grand Jury had when they indicted Smollett in the first place, so the dismissal made no sense.
Jussie and his attorneys had staged a legal battle against the special prosecutor, saying it would expose him to double jeopardy. That effort was shot down in court. You'll recall Cook County prosecutors dropped all 16 felony counts against Smollett in March 2019 ... calling it a "just disposition and appropriate resolution," but not an exoneration.
That decision pissed off Chicago law enforcement -- and in August, Webb was appointed special prosecutor to investigate how the case was handled, and if there was any reason to renew charges.
Queens, New, York emcees team up as Focus the Truth links with TGIFLY and Kyah Baby to present brand new visuals for their collaboration titled "Gravediggaz."
(CNN) A dean at Valdosta State University in Georgia was arrested over the weekend as part of a multi-agency child sex crime sting, according to a statement from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).
Keith Walters, the 44-year-old dean of the university's College of Science and Mathematics, was one of 14 people arrested during a four-day sting led by the GBI dubbed "Operation Broken Arrow."
Walters is charged with one count of sexual exploitation of children and three counts of electronically furnishing obscene materials to minors, according to the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office.
The suspects in the investigation communicated online with undercover agents believing they were communicating with minors and were arrested when they traveled to meet to them for sex, according to GBI Assistant Special Agent Lindsay Marchant. The investigation involved nearly 20 agencies and took months of planning.
"In some of these cases, the subject introduced obscene or (lewd) content, often exposing the minor to pornography or requesting the child take nude or pornographic images for them," according to a statement released by GBI. "About half of the exchanges involved websites used for dating, socializing, or even websites used for classified advertisements."
Walters, who became dean in June, was put on administrative leave pending the results of the investigation, university spokeswoman Jessica Pope said in a statement to CNN.
"VSU remains committed to assisting law enforcement's investigation in any way," Pope said.
No bond or court appearance has been set for Walters, the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office said.
On Tuesday, when asked by CNN for a statement or the name of his attorney, a family member of Walters responded, "No comment."
Grafh links up with Conway the Machine to bring you “Pray”. This marks the first official single off of his upcoming album ORACLE III – available everywhere music is streamed and sold March 6, 2020! The new 15-track project features Benny the Butcher, Conway the Machine, Hopsin, Crooked I, Bun B, Rittz and Dope Gang Porter. Preorder today!
Posted by ChasinDatPaper on February 11, 2020 at 12:21pm
Video After The Jump
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Miami Police Department has announced the man wanted for a deadly broad-daylight shooting in Wynwood has been taken into custody.
Rapper Tankhead666, real name, Lynwood Walker III is being charged with Jose Trimaine Jose’s murder.
The shooting happened along N. Miami Ave. on Friday at 2 p.m.
When police arrived, officers found two men with gunshot wounds.
Both victims were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where Jose later died.
The other victim, who has not been identified, remains in critical condition.
According to Miami PD, who issued the arrest warrant for Walker, he was taken into custody in another state.
Posted by ChasinDatPaper on February 11, 2020 at 11:00am
Audio After The Jump
50 Cent stopped by Nicki Minaj's Queen Radio podcast yesterday. The G-Unit boss talked about why he didn't sign Nicki before Lil Wayne, how he became so successful as an executive producer of television shows and more.
Posted by ChasinDatPaper on February 11, 2020 at 11:00am
Video After The Jump
Attorney and political commentator, Angela Rye, stopped by The Breakfast Club to talk about President Donald Trump's impeachment, the current state of the Democratic Party, the importance of registering to vote and more.
Posted by ChasinDatPaper on February 11, 2020 at 10:07am
Video After The Jump
China reported its highest daily coronavirus death toll Tuesday, the 103 additional fatalities pushing the total past 1,000 and providing a somber warning that the epidemic was accelerating.
All but two of the 1,018 deaths attributed to the outbreak that emerged in December have taken place in mainland China. The virus is continuing to spread into other countries, with almost 500 of the 43,138 now confirmed cases elsewhere. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week reported the 13th case in the U.S.
The 103 deaths broke the daily record set one day earlier, when 97 deaths were reported. A team from the World Health Organization arrived in China this week to "lay the groundwork for a larger international team" that will aid the Chinese effort while learning traits of the outbreak that could aid global efforts, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
WHO announced a formal name for the coronavirus – COVID-19. "We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual or group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease," Tedros said.
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