A Las Vegas judge on Wednesday dismissed the cocaine possession case against pop star Bruno Mars after he successfully completed court-ordered drug education classes and community service, even exceeding the amount of hours he was told to serve.

Clark County District Court Judge Jessie Walsh cleared Bruno of the charge, said Mary Ann Price, court information officer for the 8th Judicial District Court.

Mars, whose real name is Peter Hernandez, was arrested in September 2010 after a bathroom attendant at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel caught him with “a baggy of white powder,” later found to be cocaine, according to a police report at the time.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing cocaine and received a $2,000 fine, 200 hours of community service, drug counseling and was told to stay out of trouble during a year of informal probation. Bruno performed all the requirements and exceeded the 200 hours of service, his attorney told Reuters.

Judge Walsh took over Mars’ case after County Clark Deputy District Attorney David Schubert, who prosecuted Mars in early 2011, was arrested for buying cocaine himself a few months later.

Michael Jackson’s personal doctor was found guilty on Monday of involuntary manslaughter in the singer’s death following a six-week trial that captivated Jackson fans around the world.

Dr. Conrad Murray, 58, was led away in handcuffs after the Los Angeles jury reached a unanimous verdict. The doctor, who could face up to four years in prison, will be sentenced on November 29.

Dozens of fans outside the courtroom erupted in cheers and some burst into tears.

Murray had pleaded not guilty to giving the “Thriller” singer a fatal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol — normally used in surgery — that was ruled the main cause of the pop star’s June 25, 2009 death.

But prosecutors argued Murray was grossly negligent in administering the propofol to help Jackson sleep. Defense attorneys claimed Jackson delivered the fatal dose to himself.

The judge ordered Murray, who has been free on bail for two years, held in custody until his sentencing at the end of the month.

Murray did not testify at the Los Angeles trial and looked impassive as the guilty verdict was pronounced to a small cry from his side of the packed courtroom.

Jackson’s mother Katherine and the singer’s sister Rebbie cried silently as the guilty verdict was read. His siblings La Toya, Jermaine and Randy, and his father Joe, were also on hand.

Jackson was found lifeless at his Los Angeles mansion on June 25, 2009, age 50, about three weeks before he was scheduled to begin a series of concerts in London aimed at returning the pop star to the limelight after the humiliation of his 2005 trial and acquittal on child molestation.

Murray admitted giving Jackson a small dose of propofol to help him sleep. But his lawyers argued at the trial that the singer was dependent on the drug and that Jackson likely gave himself a extra, fatal dose of the powerful anesthetic, as well as swallowing a handful of sedatives, without Murray’s knowledge.

“JUSTICE WAS SERVED”
Asked by reporters if she was pleased with verdict, Katherine Jackson said simply “I am.”

“Justice was served. Michael is with us,” said brother Jermaine.

Asked if he was disappointed, Murray’s attorney, J. Michael Flanagan, told reporters “Of course”.

Prosecutors argued at trial that Murray was guilty of gross negligence for administering the drug in a home setting, failing to monitor Jackson, delaying calling emergency services, and failing to tell medical personnel he gave the singer propofol.

Trial judge Michael Pastor said on Monday that Murray was “now a convicted felon who has been deemed the causative factor in Michael Jackson’s death”. Pastor said he should be locked up before being sentenced to protect public safety.

On the street outside, more than 100 Jackson fans whooped with joy and chanted “Thank you judge!” as the guilty verdict, announced live on television, was read.

Bus driver Dana Brenklin, 35, burst into tears. “Of course it’s not enough and it’s not going to bring back Michael. But for two years, I had a project, justice for Michael Jackson, and I got what I wanted,” Brenklin said.

Trial watchers had said the guilty verdict was almost assured. Prosecutors were required to prove only that Murray was reckless in his care, and the judge told jurors that the doctor could be found guilty even if the jury believed that Jackson gave himself the propofol, as long as such a possibility was foreseeable.

“The prosecution did a great job of creating a portrait (of Murray) that asked, ‘is this how someone would have acted if he was responsible?’” said Marcellus McRae, former federal prosecutor and a trial lawyer with New York-based law firm, Gibson Dunn.

Rapper Soulja Boy was arrested on drug and weapons charges on Tuesday after a traffic stop in Georgia, police said.

The 21-year-old entertainer, whose given name is DeAndre Cortez Way, and four crew members traveling in a Cadillac Escalade were pulled over in Temple, Georgia on Interstate 20 near the Alabama line, police spokeswoman Dana Rampy said.

Police discovered marijuana, pistols and cash inside the car after a “routine traffic stop,” Rampy said. She declined to disclose the amount of marijuana or money.

The rapper, three bodyguards and a driver each were arrested on felony charges of possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm, Rampy said.

All five men were booked into the Carroll County jail.

A puppy found in the car has been turned over to relatives of the driver, Rampy said.

Soulja Boy first gained fame with online postings of his songs and his “Crank That” dance demonstration.

Last month, he apologized for lyrics in a song called “Let’s Be Real” that offended some U.S. Army soldiers. In a video posted online for the song, Soulja Boy rapped the lyrics “Fuck the FBI and fuck all the Army troops/Fighting for what?/Bitch be your own man.”

Media outlets reported that stores run by the military would not carry his new album because of the song.

Lil Wayne had the top-selling album in the country earlier this month. He’s on the president’s iPod. He’s on the charts with two singles and a collaboration on a third. He’s on Facebook with updates for the more than 14 million people following them. He is, in every respect, on.

Don’t forget, Lil Wayne’s in jail. But his public persona is anything but locked away.

The rapper, who’s on track to be released Thursday after serving eight months in a gun case, is the first artist in 15 years to release a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart while serving a sentence. His “I Am Not a Human Being” spent a week in the top slot and has sold more than 323,000 copies since its Sept. 27 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

It’s hardly a coveted distinction. But it is both a reflection of Lil Wayne’s popularity — he went to jail a multiplatinum-selling Grammy Award winner — and a result of astute maneuvering in the multimedia landscape that now envelops pop stardom. Staying relevant? Try omnipresent.

“The challenge was to make sure you feel like he never left,” says Bryan “Birdman” Williams, the Cash Money Records co-founder who has fostered Lil Wayne’s career since the rapper’s teens. “We came with a good strategy, and it worked.”

Rapper T.I. has been ordered to report to a Forrest City prison and he has until November 1st to turn himself in to begin serving an 11-month jail sentence.

The hip-hop star, real name Clifford Harris Jr., was sentenced to 11 months behind bars after breaking his probation when he was arrested last month in Los Angeles on drug charges. Authorities decided not to pursue the case and it was dropped.

T.I. served six months in Forrest City last year on weapons possession charges.

GET IT TOGETHER!

Just days after he was arrested in Las Vegas on a cocaine charge, rising R&B singer Bruno Mars, claimed his first No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart Wednesday.

“Just the Way You Are,” which also marks his first charting single as a lead artist, rose two places to the top and ended the two-week reign of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” which fell to No. 4. (Mars previously went to No. 1 in May, as the featured artist on B.o.B’s “Nothin’ On You”).

Mars was arrested early Sunday on suspicion of possessing cocaine after a suspicious bathroom attendant at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino alerted authorities.

Don’t ruin your career before it’s really taken off!

According to PopEater, Lindsay Lohan is reportedly spending her time behind bars writing new songs to record when she is released. With nothing to do all day in her jail cell but pop adderall all day, we expect her to have an an entire album and then some written by the time she gets released!

“Lindsay is going to spend her time in jail writing new songs that she will record the second she gets out,” a source very close to Lohan told PopEater on Wednesday. “Her emotions are so raw at the moment the material will be her best ever.”

Do you guys think Lindsay can pull off a comeback in the music biz?

British media reports say George Michael has been arrested after a car crash in London.

The BBC says the 47-year-old singer was arrested Sunday after police responded to reports that a car had crashed into a building in Hampstead, an upscale residential area in north London.

Metropolitan Police say only that they arrested a man in his 40s early Sunday in Hampstead on suspicion of being unfit to drive. They say the man was taken to a police station and released on bail pending further inquiries.

The singer’s publicists in London declined comment Tuesday.

Last year, Michael was questioned by police after his car hit a tractor-trailer, but was released. He was banned from driving for two years in 2007 after pleading guilty to driving on drugs.

Lil’ Wayne doesn’t want fans to forget about him while he’s serving time behind bars, so his team has launched the site WeezyThanxYou.com.

The first message posted on Wayne’s site says, “During my prison stint, I want my fans to know I love you. I want all of you to know that I appreciate all the mail I get, and this is my way of saying thank you.”

Karen Civil, an online marketer at Wayne’s label says, “Wayne writes hand written letters giving updates on his time, and also answering questions from fans. The letter is rewritten to his blog.”

Want to be Lil’ Wayne’s prison pen pal? Write him here: Eric M. Taylor Center, Dwayne Carter NYSID# 02616544L, 10-10 Hazen Street, East Elmhurst, NY 11370

Flesh-N-Bone, aka Stanley Howse, was performing with his group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony at the House of Blues in Cleveland on Sunday when 50 police officers and Sheriff’s deputies arrested Howse on stage. The charges are unknown, but Howse is said to have had outstanding warrants.