US News

JACKO GHOULS EYE PROFITS OF DOOM

There is no peace for Michael Jackson — just people clamoring to get a piece of him.

As thousands of fans prepared to honor the pop icon at a celebrity-packed farewell in LA today, everyone from sleazy entrepreneurs to TV networks to his own family was working to make a buck off his name:

Live Updates From Michael Jackson Memorial

Complete Schedule of Jackson Memorial Coverage

Where to Watch the Memorial in NYC

‘PERV’ RANT A BIG WEB HIT, LI POL SAYS

NEW YORKER WINS LONG SHOT JACKSON TICKETS

Ongoing Michael Jackson Coverage

* Literally the minute after some people scored free tickets to the public memorial, they were trying to hawk them on Web sites such as Craigslist and eBay for up to $25,000 a pair. The sites did their best to thwart the vendors, yanking the postings nearly as fast as they went up. But one woman in London told The Post that she had peddled two tickets for nearly $500 on the UK classifieds site Gumtree.com.

* The day before her drug-addled son’s funeral service, Katherine Jackson ordered her lawyers to try to help her retain control of Jacko’s $200 million-plus estate, despite him having handpicked two close friends as its executors years ago. The family matriarch lost her bid amid all the bickering.

* As night fell, members of Jacko’s family — reportedly including sister La Toya and daughter Paris, 11 — spent a little over an hour at the Forest Lawn Cemetery, where a private funeral was expected to be held. KCAL-TV showed helicopter footage of a hearse backing up to a chapel at the cemetery, and then later, reloading the casket — this time draped in blue — and delivering it to another neaby building.

There were conflicting reports on whether the casket would be brought to today’s memorial at Staples Center.

* Jacko’s ex-wife and mom of the two oldest children, Debbie Rowe, backed out of attending the memorial, saying her presence would be “an unnecessary distraction.” Her rep said she’d “celebrate Michael’s memory privately.”

* Long Island Rep. Pete King basked in the publicity spotlight after ripping Jacko as a “pervert” and “pedophile” a day earlier. He said a majority of Americans agree with him.

It was still unclear early this morning whether the 50-year-old singer, who died of an apparent drug overdose at home on June 25, would be buried or cremated.

The LAPD was set to seal the private service site under ultra-tight security.

There was one report that the King of Pop was to be buried without his brain, pending tests on its tissue for drugs. But a family source dismissed the claim, saying that while samples had been taken, the bulk of the organ was intact.

The same news outlet, the British paper The Mirror, claimed Jacko wanted to be cloned, “hoping that Michael Jackson could live for ever,” the report quoted the singer’s chauffeur saying.

As for the public memorial service, which starts at 1 p.m. (EDT), an estimated 2,000 cops were ordered to hit the streets to keep calm around Staples Center. The arena was cordoned off two blocks all around.

Only 16,000 people are allowed to enter the event in two theaters, one of which will show a live feed — while there had been an estimated 1.6 million applications for the tickets, which were randomly awarded. Each “winner” got two tickets.

One top police source said se curity was the greatest for any LA event in at least 20 years, in cluding last month’s parade for the Lakers after their NBA championship.

Those who scored ducats had to go to Dodger Stadium to pick up their tickets personally and have a sparkly, gold wristband attached. They had to pass through three police checkpoints.

British Airways spokesman Paul Charles said its flights were booked with fans and celebs from across the Atlantic who either were attending the memorial or wanted to be nearby to show their support.

“I think this is America’s version of Princess Diana,” Charles said. “People want to be in the vicinity. People from the UK and elsewhere want to share their emotions.”

The ticket-winning fans were allowed to take their second coveted wristband with them to give to a friend — or sell.

Undercover cops swarmed the stadium yesterday on the lookout for scalpers. It is a misdemeanor carrying a $1,000 fine to scalp the tickets, police said.

Authorities reported no incidents of scalping at the stadium — but said there were two people who had copied ticket confirmation forms and were nabbed trying to use them to score more ducats.

Early postings on Craigslist offered two tickets for prices ranging from $7,500 to $24,999, or one for $1,600. One person signed on offering to pay $2,500.

Another crafty peddler on eBay wanted the best of both worlds. He was going to the event — while offering his used ticket for $66 afterward.

By yesterday, Jacko was the most popular person on Facebook, surpassing President Obama, with 6.4 million “friends,” according to the blog All Facebook.

And his memorial service was shaping up to be an event worthy of its hype.

The Jackson family said participants would include Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Hudson, Usher, John Mayer, Lionel Richie, Akon, Kobe Bryant and Martin Luther King III.

MICHAEL JACKSON’S MOM LOSES $200M WILL BATTLE

BIG DEBTS KILLED MY PAL JACKSON: ‘HULK

MICHAEL JACKSON’S FLIP-FLOP EX-WIFE: I’LL BE NO-SHOW ROWE

Ongoing Michael Jackson Coverage

Jacko’s brother Jermaine also was to sing. He had been selected by family members to represent them, and was to close the show crooning Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile,” The Hollywood Reporter said on its Web site.

Carey was said to be singing her own rendition of the Jackson 5 hit, “I’ll Be There.”

But Jackson’s BFF, Elizabeth Taylor, said she would stay away from the pageantry.

“I just don’t believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others,” she said on Twitter. “How I feel is between us. Not a public event.”

As for the probe into Jacko’s death, investigators were executing more search warrants to check his house for illicit prescription drugs.

A source close to his personal doctor, Conrad Murray, yesterday confirmed to The Post that the physician did not have a license to write prescriptions in California, saying the singer had other doctors to do that.

david.li@nypost.com