In this show, the viewers are given a firsthand look at gang life in
St. Louis.
The Black Mafia Family (
BMF) is a drug trafficking organization originally based in
Detroit, Michigan which was founded in the late
1980s by brothers
Demetrius and Terry Flenory. By the year
2000, they had established cocaine distribution cells in cities throughout the
United States. Through their Los Angeles-based drug source, they had direct links to Mexican-based drug cartels. They established two main hubs for their operation: the
Atlanta, Georgia hub, for distribution, was operated by older brother
Demetrius, while the
Los Angeles, California hub was operated by
Terry to handle incoming shipments from
Mexico.
Around 2000, the organization tried to legitimize itself by entering the hip-hop music business, starting a company called
BMF Entertainment. Through BMF Entertainment, it helped promote a number of artists, including
Young Jeezy, as well as BMF Entertainment's sole artist,
Bleu DaVinci. Before their entrance into the music business, the Flenory
Brothers were known to associate with a number of high-profile hip-hop artists, including Jay-Z and
Fabolous.
In
2005, the
Drug Enforcement Administration (
DEA) indicted members of the
Black Mafia Family, ultimately securing convictions by targeting the Flenory brothers under the
Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute. Both were sentenced 30 years to life. Subsequent indictments eventually targeted over
150 members of the organization. Prosecutors alleged the organization made over $270 million over the course of the conspiracy
.
Flenory brothers
Demetrius Flenory and his brother Terry "
Southwest T" began their rise by selling $50 bags of powdered cocaine on the streets of
Southwest Detroit, during their high school years. By 2000, they had established multi-kilogram cocaine distribution cells in
Alabama,
California,
Florida,
Georgia,
Kentucky,
Massachusetts,
Michigan,
Missouri,
North Carolina,
Ohio,
Tennessee, and
Texas. A two-year federal investigation of the organization estimated its nationwide membership as over
500. Around
2001, there was a split between the brothers, with Terry moving to
Los Angeles with his girlfriend to head his own organization and Demetrius staying in
Atlanta. By
2003, the two had been involved in a major falling out and rarely spoke to one another.[citation needed]
In a conversation with his sister, caught by the DEA on wiretap, Terry discussed his worries that his brother's excessive partying would bring the wrong type of attention to their business. By the time charges were filed, the government had 900 pages of typed transcripts of wiretapped conversations from Terry's phone in a 5-month period.[citation needed]
In
November 2007, the brothers pled guilty to running a continuing criminal enterprise.
In September 2008, both brothers were sentenced to 30 years in prison for running a nationwide cocaine-trafficking ring, which lasted from 2000 to 2005.
Demetrius Flenory is serving out his sentence at the Atlanta
USP in
Atlanta,Georgia and is scheduled for release on
February 25,
2032, around his
61st birthday. His brother is serving his sentence at
FCI Pollock in
Pollock, Louisiana and is scheduled to be released on
December 14, 2031.
Hip-hop presence
In 2004,
Da Vinci's
album,
World Is BMF's, was nominated for a
Source Award. BMF appeared in numerous underground hip-hop
DVD magazines, most notably several issues of
S.M.A.C.K. and
The Come Up. The organization's most highly visible appearance was in a full-length DVD that was produced by The
Raw Report, which gave a detailed inside look at their movement.
The DVD was featured
Vibe's cover article on BMF in the May
2006. It received wide acclaim from DJs for the Soundsmith Productions produced song "
Streets on
Lock", headed by BMF affiliate Bleu
Davinci and featuring Fabolous and Young Jeezy. A music video was later produced for the single, though it was never released to networks.
Creative Loafing senior editor
Mara Shalhoup wrote a three-part series about the Black Mafia Family entitled Hip-Hop's Shadowy
Empire,[8] which was the first in-depth report on the organization. Her later book on the organization, BMF:
The Rise and Fall of
Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family, was published in
March 2010.
Demetrius Flenory was interviewed from prison by the magazines Don
Diva[9] and
The Source.
- published: 14 Apr 2014
- views: 54022