Hafetz Haim Halachot
Halacha 104 / 215

Hilchos Lashon Hara chapter 7, section 5

The rule that one may treat lashon hara only as a reason to be cautious is about an ordinary Jew. But if a person is known as wicked, someone who breaks well-known prohibitions, for example Shabbos, it is allowed to accept lashon hara about such a person.