In his infinite wisdom, Kwame Kilpatrick has decided to broker a plea deal, offering to give up his position as mayor, plead guilty to two felonies (out of eight), do 300 hours of community service, and pay a six-figure fine in exchange for no jail time. The prosecutor, who wants to throw the mayor in jail, is not quite amenable to the deal. Meanwhile, a judge will decide today if Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm can, at the City Council's request, begin hearings tomorrow to decide whether or not to remove Kilpatrick from office. Either way, he's out of the mayor's office eventually… but will he be able to avoid spending time behind bars? [DN]

If child pornography allegations didn't stick, this probably won't, but here goes: R. Kelly is wanted for questioning in a South African money scandal. He allegedly made $130,000 for a concert that he never gave.

Busiswe Zakwe was arrested and charged with swindling thousands of dollars from investors by promising ticket sale profits if they brought an R. Kelly tour to the country in 2005. Kelly never stepped foot in South Africa, but the woman claims she deposited the investors' money into his account. Local police have reportedly confirmed that the account Zakwe claims is Kelly's is authentic, but the money is nowhere to be found. Police want to question Kelly about the missing funds.

[EUR]

Denver cops might have foiled an assassination attempt on Barack Obama during a routine traffic stop yesterday. When police pulled over Tharin Gartrell for driving his rental truck erratically, they found two high-powered, scoped rifles in the car along with camouflage clothing, walkie-talkies, wigs, a bulletproof vest, a spotting scope, licenses in the names of other people and 44 grams of methamphetamine." Police alerted the FBI, and Gartrell and three other people, one of whom is thought to have ties to a white supremacist organization, have been arrested. One of them told police that they planned to kill Obama during his acceptance speech Thursday. The FBI is investigating, but the U.S. Attorney in charge of the case said that he is "absolutely confident there is no credible threat to the candidate, the Democratic National Convention, or the people of Colorado."

A judge has granted a 23-year-old Atlanta woman a restraining order against Shaquille O'Neal, after she accused the basketball star (who recently reunited with his estranged wife, Shani) of stalking her.

Judge Richard Hicks granted Alexis Miller’s request on Thursday after reviewing her claims that the NBA star threatened her with bodily harm and made harassing phone calls in which he would breathe heavily into the phone before hanging up.

Miller, a 23-year-old independent music artist professionally known as Maryjane, also alleged that O’Neal, 36, threatened to ruin her career by having her blackballed after Miller ended an intimate relationship between the two last month.

Shaq can't go within 200 yards of the woman, with whom he allegedly had a relationship, or her 19-month-old son. I would assume he's also prohibited from publicly asking the woman to "tell him how his ass tastes." [AJC]

LisaRaye, deals with some severe marital drama in Turks & Caicos, but her sister Da Brat's drama just might trump being married to a philandering, maybe-racist head of state. The rapper, who happens to be one of Mariah Carey's besties, was just sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated assault for hitting a cocktail waitress with a bottle last Halloween. [AJC]

It's been a year for DMX. He recently was arrested for the sixth time since May, and he is clearly addicted to one or more illegal substances. He needs help, and he and the people around him have put their heads together and come up with a brilliant solution to his legal and addiction problems. The celebrity salve of the 21st century: reality television! That's right, hip hop's current trainwreck will be starring in a reality show — his second — called DMX: This Life of Mine.

The show will follow DMX’s attempt to resolve a string of legal problems, which include six arrests since May of 2008, the most recent one occurring last week in Miami, Florida.

This Life of Mine will also feature DMX attempting to rehabilitate to himself, as he simultaneously attempts to avoid being sent to prison for pending charges of possessing drug paraphernalia, possessing marijuana, animal cruelty charges and theft, for allegedly giving a fake name when he was treated at a Scottsdale hospital earlier this year.

Now, if Amy Winehouse would just follow in DMX's footsteps and let television cameras to trail her all day, we'd be on the road to a drug- and crime-free music industry. [AHH]