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Eight years after the deadly mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in June 2016, local police closed their investigation into the venue’s former owners, with no charges being filed. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news In an emailed statement to The Associated Press, the Orlando Police Department stated […]
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Geoge Santos, the CONman CONservative who CONNED his way into CONgress before he was expelled last year amid indictments on a then-growing number of federal fraud charges, is now expected to plead guilty to fraud charges in order to avoid a trial he doesn’t believe he can win due to how well-known he is. (I mean, it probably doesn’t help that he’s well-known for lying about his education, work history, charities he started and his race and ethnicity in order to take up space in the U.S. House.)
From the New York Times:
Mr. Santos arrived at federal court in Central Islip, N.Y., ahead of a 3 p.m. hearing where he is expected to enter a guilty plea and give a statement acknowledging the crimes he has agreed to plead to, according to two lawyers and two other people with knowledge of the case.
Pleading guilty would allow Mr. Santos to avoid a trial on nearly two dozen charges — including wire fraud, money laundering and stealing public funds — for which he was facing as many as 22 years in prison.
Santos was charged with a total of 23 federal counts of fraud-related activity, including charges he initially pleaded not guilty to such as allegations that he stole money from donors and lied to the government to cover it up. Santos’ trial was set to begin in a few weeks, but, on Friday, prosecutors asked presiding Judge Joanna Seybert to schedule a new pretrial meeting for Monday.
More from the Times:
Prosecutors painted Mr. Santos’s campaign as so desperate for cash that it turned to lying, cheating and stealing to finance its operations. But they also assert a pattern of self-dealing, which saw Mr. Santos repeatedly using his campaign account as a personal piggy bank.
Prosecutors said Mr. Santos used stolen credit card information from one donor to take $11,000 for his personal use. He convinced other donors to give money to what he said was a super PAC supporting his campaign. Instead, he used some of the money to buy designer clothing and pay his personal credit card bills.
On top of all that, Santos’ former campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, previously admitted that she helped the Bernie Madoff of politics falsify a $500,000 loan to his campaign that never existed so he could qualify for financial and operational support from the Republican Party. Marks pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to defraud the United States in October and is now facing between three and four years in prison.
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Sean “Diddy” Combs is being investigated by the Feds. Reportedly, the disgraced Hip-Hop mogul is the subject of a federal criminal investigation, surely tied to the raids on his homes back in March 2024.
NBC News reports that Diddy’s legal team was notified last week that their client is being investigated by the Southern District of New York (SDNY). Although their sources indicated that a federal grand jury has been empaneled, there is no indication as to what the potential charges may be and when they will land, yet. The source also said that Combs had yet to receive a formal target letter from the SDNY.
This latest development comes a few months after Diddy’s homes in Miami and Los Angeles were raided simultaneously as part of an investigation into alleged sex trafficking and illegal firearms, amongst other crimes. Recently, Diddy put the same Los Angeles home that was raided on the market. TMZ reports he’s seeking $70M for the Holmby Hills home after paying $40M for it back in 2014.
Combs’ fall from grace can be pinpointed to when in November 2023 his ex-girlfriend and former Bad Boy artist Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit accusing him of years of physical and sexual abuse. The suit was settled a day later, but the dam was broken, with more alleged victims coming forward with lawsuits of their own in the weeks and months since. Diddy would vehemently deny any wrongdoing, but in May 2024, CNN obtained a video that showed him brutally beating Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel’s hallway. The assault was just as what Cassie had described in her lawsuit.
Diddy then took to Instagram to deliver a widely criticized apology video. In the month since Cassie’s initial lawsuit, entities have been cutting ties with Diddy, including Revolt (where he once served as Chairman of the company he founded), Hulu (which dropped a planned reality show) and Howard University (which rescinded his honorary degree).
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Sad news coming out of the sneaker community as well-known sneaker reseller to celebrities Javier Osorio-Mejia of Bayonne, NJ was reportedly shot and killed on Tuesday (June 25) in what police assume was a botched robbery attempt in New York City.
According to Fox5NY, the shooting occurred around 5:15 am on Greene Street in Soho and though it seems like a robbery attempt gone wrong, the men who accosted Meija shot him and fled the scene without taking any of his cash or his brand new Range Rover which was left behind at the scene. According to reports, Javier Osorio-Mejia was shot three times in the right leg before he was rushed to Bellevue Hospital where he passed away.
Known for selling exclusive high-end sneakers to celebrities and everyday sneakerheads alike, Meija built a name for himself over the years in the sneaker community, so when news of his shooting hit the internet, many eyebrows were raised and hearts broken.
Fox5NY reports:
NYPD detectives and crime scene investigators spent many hours going over the scene in search of clues. Sources told FOX 5 NY’s Lisa Evers significant ballistic evidence was recovered from the apparent ambush.
Detectives also recovered cash that was left on the ground, along with the victim’s trademark lime green Nike sneakers.
“I’m just devastated and I just want everyone to know he was a good person. He wasnt involved in no foul stuff, he was a humble dude, he helped a lot of people,” one of Osorio-Mejia’s friends said.
No arrests have been made. The motive behind the shooting was unknown at the time.
As detectives continued their work, friends gathered to mourn the loss of a rising businessman and support each other.
When news of his passing hit social media many of Meija’s friends and colleagues in the sneaker community took to his last post to express their love and condolences as he was beloved by many in the game.
Rest In Power, King.
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Source: Eduardo Frederiksen / Getty / Atlanta Bus Hijacking
A scene reminiscent of the film SPEED starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock went down in Atlanta, and it also had a plot twist not even Tyler Perry would think of for one of his films.
Spotted on TMZ, an Atlanta city bus was hijacked by a crook, holding the driver at gunpoint and taking passengers hostage, leading ATL police on a high-speed chase that left one person dead.
Thanks to aerial footage, viewers were locked in as law enforcement was in hot pursuit of the bus as it plowed through Atlanta traffic, smashing civilian vehicles, including cop cars, in a chase that went on for miles on Tuesday.
The suspect, Joseph Grier, a convicted felon with 19 prior arrests, commanded the bus driver, Ernst Antoine, who was only on the job for three months, to drive after shooting and killing a passenger.
Speaking exclusively with ABC’s Good Morning America, Antoine said he was “ready to die” for the bus passengers and felt his handling of the situation “was right because people always coming first.”
When police finally got the bus to stop, the hostages ran for safety, and the suspect was immediately taken into custody, but that part didn’t play out so smoothly.
Speaking with PEOPLE, a passenger revealed that Grier “threw his gun and tried to disguise himself as one of the victims.”
When Antoine got off the bus, police mistook him for the suspect he revealed before pointing the cops in the right direction.
“When I get out, the police point the gun on me. I said, ‘No, I’m not the killer. I’m the driver.’ And they asked me, ‘Who is the killer?’ I say, ‘Him,’” Antoine told GMA.
This Bus Hijacking Is The Most Atlanta Thing Ever
The hijacking only gets more interesting. Not too long after the incident, an interview featuring Grier talking to reporters following a shooting at the Peachtree Center, leaving four people shot, surfaced.
In the interview, Grier discussed what he witnessed at the shooting before later boarding the bus and getting into a fight with another passenger.
Another passenger on the bus with a gun attempted to stop the fight, leading to Grier stealing the gun and shooting and killing the person trying to break up the fight.
As for his reasoning for his behavior, Grier, 39, claims he has bipolar disorder and has been off his meds for weeks.
We shall see how this plays out.
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There was a reason Sean “Diddy” Combs didn’t actually apologize to Cassie in his much-criticized mea culpa video last weekend. Apparently, the disgraced Hip-Hop mogul is not legally allowed to say his ex-girlfriend’s name, and vice versa.
In late 2023, former Bad Boy Records artist Cassie sued Diddy, accusing him of years of sexual abuse and sex trafficking and domestic violence, amongst other heinous crimes. Diddy infamously settled the lawsuit a day later, with speculation that he had to hand over a hefty sum of money.
According to TMZ, sources who are familiar with the settlement say it includes an airtight NDA (non-disclosure agreement) that prevents either Diddy or Cassie from uttering each other’s names.
Nevertheless, the NDA hasn’t prevented Cassie’s attorney from lighting into Diddy when he dropped his maligned apology video or when CNN released the hotel footage of the “Been Around The World” rapper beating his ex-girlfriend.
Reportedly, Diddy wanted to say Cassie’s name in his video statement but his attorneys reviewed the video before it was posted to ensure their client didn’t break the NDA.
With Diddy facing so much litigation, and the wrath of the court of public opinion, don’t expect him to be making any more public statements anytime soon.
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Sean “Diddy” Combs has a lot of explaining to do. In hotel surveillance footage obtained by CNN, a man who allegedly looks like Diddy is seen hitting, kicking and dragging who is reportedly Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway.
Trigger Warning.
According to CNN, the footage is from 2016. What is seen in the video reportedly lines up with what Cassie recounted in her initial lawsuit against Diddy in late 2023, where she accused him of years of domestic violence and sexual assault. Diddy infamously quickly settled the case a day after the lawsuit was filed.
Reports CNN:
The footage, compiled from multiple camera angles dated March 5, 2016, appears to show the rapper, producer and business mogul during an incident that, according to Ventura’s complaint, occurred at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles. CNN verified the location based on publicly available photos of the former hotel’s interior.
In the video, Ventura exits a hotel room and walks to a bank of elevators. Combs, holding a towel around his waist, runs down a hall after Ventura. He grabs her by the back of the neck and throws her to the floor. Still holding his towel closed with one hand, he then turns to kick her, the video shows.
As Ventura is on the ground, Combs retrieves a purse and suitcase from the floor near the elevators. He turns around and kicks Ventura again as she lies motionless on the floor. About four seconds transpire between the two kicks, according to the video. He then briefly drags Ventura by her sweatshirt toward a room before walking away.
But the altercation doesn’t stop there.
Ventura is then seen slowly standing up. She gathers items from the floor and moves to pick up a phone on the hallway wall near the elevators. Combs, still in a towel and socks, returns. A mirror directly across from the security camera shows Combs appearing to shove Ventura.
Seconds later, he sits down on a chair, grabs an object off a table and forcefully throws it toward Ventura. Combs is seen walking away, then turns toward Ventura once again when an elevator door opens and someone appears to exit.
The incident reportedly occurred at the since-shuttered InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles. Cassie has reportedly declined to comment about the release of the footage.
The reaction on social media has been swift, and the consensus seems to be that Diddy is a monster. See for yourself in the gallery.
This story is developing.
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Media personality DJ Akademiks has been sued for rape, sexual assault and defamation by his alleged ex-girlfriend. Fauziya Abashec claims she was raped by two men and Akademiks, born Livingston Allen, in his home in 2022.
Rolling Stone initially reported about the lawsuit, and the detailed claims it contains are heinous. Abashec aka “Ziya” alleged that she dated that media personality after meeting him in 2001. But in 2002, after what she says was about a year of not seeing him, he allegedly invited her over to his home.
But while she expected just Akademiks, she was met by two as yet unnamed men. She claims the men drugged and raped her on Akademiks’ pool deck. She also claims that sometime during the night, Akademiks sexually assaulted her, too.
Reports Rolling Stone:
Abashe says the drugs “impacted her memory and caused her to lose consciousness,” according to the suit. She claims she was later woken up at around 4 a.m. (July 17, 2022) in a bedroom by Allen, who was “pulling her hair, prying open her legs, and brutally raping her,” she claims. Abashe accuses Allen of penetrating her anally and vaginally and says she was “begging” him to stop and “crying for most of this assault but losing her ability to move physically.”
The following day, according to the lawsuit, Abashe asked Allen for details about what happened the previous night. He allegedly showed her a trashcan that contained two condom wrappers, which suggested to Abashe that, after the alleged pool deck attack, the two John Does had “taken her into another room in the house and continued to rape her brutally.” Abashe also claimed that Allen showed her surveillance footage of the alleged pool deck attack.
“According to Ms. Abashe, as she watched the video, she looked like she was just lying there lifeless, which did not sit right with her,” the suit reads.
Abashe claims she has text messages that support her story.
The victim also reportedly contacted the police, who suggest she go to the hospital for a rape kit. Reportedly, traces of Akademiks’ sperm was found after testing. Then, Ziya allegedly managed to get Akademiks to allegedly admit to the assault via a story that reads straight out of an episode of Law & Order: SVU.
Reports Rolling Stone:
After contacting her lawyer for advice, Abashe went to the police. The authorities first told her to visit a hospital for a rape kit, which she did; the kit purportedly led to the discovery of traces of Allen’s sperm, she claims. Abashe then spoke with the authorities in person and photographs were taken of bruises on Abashe’s arm, back, buttocks, and legs.
Abashe also sat for a “recorded wire call” with Allen, during which, she claimed, Allen “graphically recount[ed] and admit[ed] to having sexual intercourse” with her, “even going so far as to describe her vagina.”
This led the cops to obtain a warrant for the surveillance footage and other evidence. Abashe later claimed that Allen “disposed of several items (bed sheets, etc.) at the dumpster near his office. Presumably, Mr. Allen was attempting to destroy the evidence of Ms. Abashe’s rape.”
However, Ziya chose not to go to the police. Instead, she decided to pursue the lawsuit after partial details of the incident made it onto social media in late 2023. In a video called Story time with Ak! DJ Akademiks exposes his Ex Chey & speaks on her trying to ruin his Image!, Akademiks said, “She was getting trained by my two mens on my pool deck.” Ziya maintains she defamed before Akademiks was aware that she had no recollection of what happened yet he asserted that he didn’t know she was assaulted, allegedly.
That video, where Ak starts detailing the cops raiding home (see below), is still up and is surely evidence now. So far, DJ Akademiks has not commented on the lawsuit. Check out some of the reactions on Xitter to these allegations in the gallery.
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Polo G was arrested on Wednesday (April 10) in New York on a pair of weapons charges, a spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed to Billboard on Friday (April 12).
Police relayed that the Chicago rapper — born Taurus Bartlett — was arrested and brought into custody on charges of criminal possession of a firearm as well as criminal possession of a weapon.
“On Wednesday, April 10, 2024 at approximately 1209 hours, police responded to a 911 call for found property at 246 Spring Street,” the NYPD spokesperson said via email. “Upon arrival, it was reported to officers that there is a firearm at the location. An individual was placed into custody at the location without incident.”
Based on the address given by law enforcement, it appears the arrest took place at The Dominick hotel in New York’s SoHo neighborhood earlier this week.
Trending on Billboard
According to TMZ, a loaded Glock 23 was discovered by a Dominick hotel employee who alerted local authorities. Police executed a search warrant of the room and found the weapon before arresting the “Pop Out” rapper. Polo G was allegedly carrying about $23,000 in cash at the time of the arrest.
This is far from Polo’s first run-in with the law. The rapper was arrested in August 2023 after police raided his California home and found “numerous firearms” there. The raid followed Polo G’s brother, Taurean Bartlett (a.k.a. Trench Baby), being identified as a suspect in a California robbery. According to the LAPD, when the alleged victim arrived at Taurean’s house to film a music video, the rapper pulled out a “handgun and demanded that the victim transfer money to an unknown account.”
LAPD Detectives subsequently obtained an arrest warrant for Taurean and discovered that he was living with Polo G. When the firearms were discovered at the residence, police arrested both brothers. In that incident, Polo G was booked for possession of a rifle at Van Nuys Jail.
Polo G has been working toward the release of his anticipated fourth album. His third LP, Hall of Fame, arrived in 2021 and notched him his first Billboard 200 No. 1 with 143,000 equivalent album units earned in the first week.
Billboard has reached out to Polo G’s reps for comment.
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We may not know exactly where Sean “Diddy” Combs is after the Feds raided his homes on both coasts, but his lawyers are speaking up for him. In a statement, the Bad Boy Record’s founder’s attorney likened Homeland Security’s raids on his client’s homes to a “witch hunt.”
On Monday, March 25, Diddy’s Miami and Los Angeles homes were descended upon by armed federal officers in a coordinated effort between the Department of Homeland Security and the US Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York. The latter is reportedly investigating Diddy for sex trafficking tied to at least several lawsuits that accuse the mogul of multiple instances of sexual assault.
However, in a statement to the media, Diddy’s lawyers say the Feds’ actions were “meritless.”
Said Combs’ lawyer Aaron Dyer: “This unprecedented ambush — paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence — leads to a premature rush to judgment of Mr Combs and is nothing more than a witch hunt based on meritless accusations made in civil lawsuits.”
He added, “There has been no finding of criminal or civil liability with any of these allegations. Mr. Combs is innocent and will continue to fight every single day to clear his name.”
Despite rumors that Diddy had fled the country, he is reportedly still in America. Although a private jet that allegedly belongs to Combs landed in Antigua after his homes were raided, Diddy was not aboard.
TMZ has footage of Diddy speaking to the authorities
This story is developing.