Charles Nagel, Law & Order: Criminal Intent's Kathryn Erbe's #1 superfan/creepy stalker, was given five years probation after claiming he was raped in jail. more ›

39-year-old John Tluczek was so relieved to avoid jail time today he gave a rambling speech in court that the presiding judge quipped "was beginning to sound like an Academy Awards speech." Tluczek, his wife and two buddies from NYU were busted in 2009 for running a so-called "beaut of a scam" in which over five years they would make large ATM withdrawals from lazy banks, then claim that their cards had been stolen and keep the cash. more ›

An Ohio resident recently learned the hard way that maybe one shouldn't always accept fully-paid trips to NYC to appear on The Maury Povich Show (check out the video below). April Davis, who was on probation for drug trafficking, left Ohio with her 58-year-old boyfriend to appear on the episode 'Girls Who Date Older Men,' and wound up behind bars. more ›

Yesterday, it was reported that admitted rapist Tony Simmons, a former Manhattan court juvenile counselor, had been given an insane plea deal and is expected to receive ten years probation and no jail time at sentencing next week. One of his victims, identified only by her first name Ashley, is understandably incredulous at the meager sentence—and she's making the rounds today, telling her story to the media. more ›

It's four mugshots and counting: Troubled starlet Lindsay Lohan went back to jail yesterday for violating her probation (by testing positive for drugs including cocaine)—and then managed to get out later in the evening. While the judge initially wanted her held in custody until an October 22nd hearing, a supervising judge threw that decision out, because, according to TMZ, it "flies in the face of California law, which gives defendants the right to bail in misdemeanor cases." Lohan's bondsman posted bail around 10 p.m. PDT; her friends claim that the Long Island native thinks she needs to go to rehab, not jail. more ›

Earlier this year, actor Rip Torn was arrested for breaking into a bank in Salisbury, Connecticut. His excuse? He was drunk, and he thought the bank's two-story Colonial building was his own home (the burglary charges were dropped). Oh, and he was armed because, well, he's kind of paranoid. Since his February 1 arraignment, Torn has been on $100,000 bail and went into rehab for two months. He's still in rehab and now he's applying for probation. The Register Citizen reports that if the judge agrees on accelerated rehabilitation probation, Torn "will enter a two-year program, resulting in all charges being dropped upon successful completion." more ›

Hungry for some more details about the most important competitive eating court case in the history of the sport? CNN reports that Takeru Kobayashi may be a free man after his court hearing on Thursday, but that's only provided he stays out of trouble for the next six months. Not too bad considering he was charged with resisting arrest, trespassing, obstruction of governmental administration and disorderly conduct after storming the stage at this year's annual Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Competition on Coney Island. The deal is sitting well with Kobayashi, who declared, "I am very happy. It was a more nervous victory than winning the eating contest." He'll be celebrating with a pizza eating contest in Ontario, Canada later this month. more ›

That Brooklyn bad girl Foxy Brown is back at it! The 30-year-old rapper served 8 months behind bars recently, and last night was slapped with one count of criminal contempt. Allegedly she went after her neighbor in Brooklyn, Arlene Raymond, who has a restraining order against her following an attack in 2007 (at the time, her Blackberry was her weapon of choice). more ›

Yesterday, a cabbie who stopped taking his seizure medication pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide for a crash that killed a passenger in 2006. But Hassan Afzal was given a plea deal with a sentencing recommendation of five years probation—no jail time—which upset victim Danielle Ricco's family as well as the other women injured in the accident. Ricco's father said, "We're heartbroken. He's never expressed any remorse," while Anna Sallustio, whose pelvis and leg were shattered, said, "I am appalled." more ›

The woman whose false rape accusations sent an innocent man to prison for nearly four years claims she was so drunk that night that she started to believe her own lies. Lawyers representing Biurney Peguero Gonzalez—who is currently facing jail-time on perjury charges—say she was so inebriated when she falsely accused William McCaffrey of raping her in a van in Upper Manhattan in 2005 that she lost all memory of the incident and came to believe her own story. more ›

Since being convicted of misdemeanor assault for dragging his girlfriend down a building hallway last October, expelled state Sen. Hiram Monserrate has skipped all three court-mandated domestic-violence counseling sessions and hardly started his obligatory 250 hours of community service. "He was told, 'This is serious,'" a source told the Post. "It was made clear, 'If you miss again, violation is next.'" more ›

The 19-year-old driver who hit and killed a 47-year-old man at a Staten Island bus stop pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and will serve a maximum of six months in jail. Joseph Catrama admitted he ran a red light and was speeding when he turned from Seaview Avenue onto Capodanno Boulevard last February, lost control of his 2008 Hyundai Sonata, and pinned Nathan Pakow between the car's bumper and metal post displaying bus route information. According to the Advance, Catrama will be stripped of his drivers license and will face a minimum of five years probation. "This plea guarantees that the defendant is held accountable for his actions and avoids the uncertainty of a jury trial," said a spokesman for the Staten Island District Attorney's Office. more ›

The justice system wants to save you the heartbreak of meeting the man of your dreams... and having him tell you he's, like, sort of into kiddie porn. Ignorance is bliss? The NY Post reports that 51-year-old Lamont Reeves got himself 40 months behind bars after being busted for possessing three DVDs of the sickening genre and stealing $100K in Social Security payments sent to his dead father. And ladies, he's single! more ›

A federal judge sentenced a Staten Island mother of eight to probation for smuggling monkey meat into the country. more ›

At the sentencing hearing for State Senator Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens), who was convicted of misdemeanor assault for slashing his girlfriend in the face, Justice William Erlbaum said that three years probation for the freshman senator—plus a 250 hours of community service, a year of domestic violence counseling, and a $1,000 fine—was "what any other person gets in this situation." Still, Queens DA Richard Brown, whose office was hoping for 60 days in jail, said, "In my opinion, [Erlbaum] should have provided for a jail term more ›

State Senator Hiram Monserrate, who was convicted of misdemeanor assault, was sentenced to 250 hours of community service. 52 weeks of domestic abuse counseling and three years of probation. The assault conviction stems from an incident where he allegedly accidentally slashed his girlfriend in the face a year ago. more ›

The two Fashion Institute of Technology students who were busted last December for coke dealing (to undercover cops, no less) were given probation for their felony cocaine possession raps. However, Mackenzie Dippenworth was unhappy with being branded a felon, saying, "It's the ugliest, most disgusting word in the entire language," adding, "I look in here, and I don't see a felon. I don't. I see a girl who made a mistake." more ›

A Brooklyn thug convicted of a violent crime spree last year almost caught a lucky break at Brooklyn Supreme Court yesterday. Victor Hernandez, 17, was sitting in court (wearing his best Spider Man T-shirt) when a lawyer he'd never met, Joseph Santo, called him forward. Santo had mistaken Hernandez, a stocky Latino with curly hair, for his client Antoine Dick, a "clean-cut" black man who was due to get five years probation for purse-snatching. Instead, Hernandez was sentenced as Dick. He tells the Post, "I thought it was strange when I was given five years probation, but I didn't understand. All I knew was that I was happy." Santo—using the best 'that's what she said' defense ever—explains, "I've only met Mr. Dick half a dozen times. I thought he'd grown his hair out. I see as many as 40 clients in a week. I don't remember their faces all the time." Hernadez was ultimately apprehended in the probation office waiting room after his real lawyer arrived to clear up the mistake, helpfully sending his client to jail. He's expected to get at least seven years in prison for slashing two brothers with a machete in a Williamsburg restaurant, among other crimes. more ›

Melissa Weber, the social studies teacher at a Queens public school who was accused of having an affair with a 14-year-old student back in May, has pleaded guilty to statutory rape. Queens DA RIchard Brown said, “As a teacher, the defendant’s actions represent a disturbing betrayal of trust to the student, his parents and the school that employed her... The defendant’s admission of guilt today not only ensures that she is held responsible for her actions but it also spares the young victim in this case the emotional trauma of having to testify at trial.” As it happens, the 27-year-old's plea deal also spares her from a prison sentence, as she's likely to receive 10 years probation—plus she would register as a sex offender (which means her teaching license is revoked), will have to let the Probation Department know about her various Internet usernames, will not be able to use social network websites and can't visit "school grounds or any other places where children under the age of eighteen may be congregating." The "affair" was discovered when the student's mother found text messages between her son and Weber. more ›

Finally, would-be Empire State Building stunt jumper Jeb Corliss is at the end of his nearly three-year-long legal nightmare. In 2006 he attempted to jump from the building with a parachute, but his plan was foiled by security at the last minute. Since then he's been in and out of court, and more recently he was convicted, meaning he could face years behind bars. Well, yesterday was judgement day, and following Alain Robert's slap on the wrist, Corliss was "sentenced to three years of probation and 100 hours of community service," which he is allowed to serve out in his hometown of Malibu, California. No doubt a relief for the stuntman; when he was first facing a judge in 2006 he had said, "I live in a country whose motto is 'Land of the free.' I don't feel very free here." This time around Corliss called the judge: "a wonderful man." more ›

Earlier this week, a judge decided that a man found guilty of stalking actress Uma Thurman did not deserve jail time. Instead, Jack Jordan was sentenced to psychiatric counseling and three years probation in Maryland. However, Jordan was spotted in Lower Manhattan yesterday. more ›

Jack Jordan, the man convicted of stalking actress Uma Thurman, received a sentence of three years probation today. On May 6th a jury found Jordan guilty of stalking and aggravated harassment. Prosecutors had wanted him to spend a year in jail, but the judge declined to order any jail time, opting for psychiatric counseling for the 37-year-old former mental patient. more ›

Last we heard, rapper Foxy Brown, who has been on Rikers for about 8 months now, was trying to get an early release because of her "hearing problems". Deaf or not, something worked, and this week she'll be a free woman once again. more ›

In exchange for guilty pleas on a number of charges including assault of a fan, assault of his chauffer, driving with a suspended license and DUI, rap star Busta Rhymes avoided jail time and was sentenced yesterday to 10 days of community service. Sadly, we’ll be denied the publicity circus that swirled around Boy George and Naomi Campbell during their very public community services; Rhymes will have the privilege of choosing his own method of service at a “private, court-approved location.” (Will there be an after-party?) He’ll also pay fines and court costs amounting to – yes this figure you're about to read is correct – $1,510. more ›