Fresh Loaf

Is it true? Has every last Black Mafia Family member been arrested? That’s what Fox News and the AJC are reporting, citing officials at the U.S. Marshals Service in Atlanta.

But really, it depends on how you look at it.

Impressively, the Marshals have rounded up pretty much every defendant named in seven federal indictments filed in Atlanta, Orlando, Detroit, St. Louis and L.A. That comes to nearly 150 men and women who played some role in BMF’s sprawling, quarter-of-a-billion-dollar cocaine enterprise, which launched an Atlanta-based record label and was well-connected in the hip-hop world — including a tight relationship with Atlanta rap star Young Jeezy.

Most recently, Vernon “Wu” Coleman, an alleged distributor for the cocaine crew who was named in one of the Atlanta indictments, was arrested July 16. As far as I can tell, there’s only one remaining defendant nationwide who’s still listed as a fugitive: an L.A. drug dealer who allegedly supplied BMF distributors with kilos of coke in the crew’s waning days, after BMF’s founders — the brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory — were jailed for running the criminal enterprise.

However, there are several suspected BMF members who, for one reason or another, were never indicted. So while it’s true that almost every BMF member who was indicted has been arrested, there are still some stragglers.

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Fleming Daniels, a.k.a. Ill

In news that would never have seen the light of day had disgraced NFL star Adam “Pacman” Jones not been named in a lawsuit, it appears the former Dallas Cowboy had been covering the attorney fees for the Black Mafia Family’s third-in-command, Fleming “Ill” Daniels.

In fact, Pacman allegedly picked up the tab for legal representation in a whopping 18 cases involving his friends and family.

Daniels, who was a major player in BMF co-leader Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory’s $270 million cocaine ring, is under indictment in Fulton County for the 2004 shooting death of Rashannibal “Prince” Drummond, who was gunned down in the parking lot of Midtown’s now-defunct Velvet Room.

According to the AJC, the high-priced attorney who was representing Daniels on the murder charge, Manny Arora, is suing Pacman for failing to pay more than $10,000 in fees the lawyer had been promised in exchange for representing Pacman’s friends and family, including Daniels.

Documents filed in Fulton County Superior Court show that Arora removed himself from Daniels’ case last year and was replaced with a public defender.

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Fleming Daniels

Fleming “Ill” Daniels, a close associate of Black Mafia Family co-leader Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory, was sentenced in federal court today to 20 years in prison.

Daniels, one of 150 BMF associates indicted across the country, was convicted in June of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He was one of the few defendants to go to trial; most of the rest pleaded guilty.

During the sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Orinda Evans said that based on the evidence she heard, Meech and Daniels were close.

“They had connections in the music world and also the drug world,” she said. “He [Daniels] had a position of power and authority. He was Meech’s right-hand man.”

“Big Meech” Flenory, along with his brother Terry “Southwest T,” were sentenced in September to 30 years for running one of the country’s most prodigious cocaine empires. They’re estimated to have earned at least $270 million in cocaine sales.

Meech, who headed BMF’s Atlanta hub, also founded a record label and was tied to some of the South’s most celebrated rappers.

Daniels has been described as Meech’s third-in-command. He was a regular presence in Atlanta’s high-end nightclubs, where BMF members were known as legendary partiers.

In a separate case, Daniels was indicted earlier this year for the 2004 killing of Rashannibal “Prince” Drummond, who was gunned down in the parking lot of the now-defunct Velvet Room. That case has yet to be resolved.

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Swedish artist Hannes Isaksson, whose totally awesome sketches of American gangsters have typically centered on the New York set (think Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff, Lorenzo “Fat Cat” Nichols, and Leroy “Nicky” Barnes), has broadened his horizons to the Atlanta-based Black Mafia Family.

OK, so Isaksson incorrectly identified BMF co-founder Terry “Southwest T” Flenory (left), as his brother — and fellow BMF founder — Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory (right). Still, the drawing’s pretty rad.

(Sketch by Hannes Isaksson, obviously)

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Steve Goss, host of “Morning Edition” on WABE 90.1 FM (our local NPR affiliate), was kind enough to invite me on the show to talk about the Black Mafia Family.

BMF was a $270 million cocaine enterprise that had ties to some of the biggest names in hip-hop. Its co-leaders, Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and his brother, Terry “Southwest T,” were sentenced in September to 30 years in federal prison.

My BMF interview with Goss aired this morning, but you can still listen to it online.

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“Big Meech” Flenory (right) was like a big brother to Barima “Bleu DaVinci” McKnight.

NOTE: This post is a slightly longer version of a story that appeared in this week’s print edition of Creative Loafing.

The Black Mafia Family continued to unravel last week when a parade of the cocaine ring’s affiliates was sentenced in federal court in Atlanta. Among them were two defendants with strong ties to the hip-hop industry.

What’s more, all but one of the 10 defendants to plead guilty — Deron “D-Shock” “D-Shot” Hall — agreed to share information with the government, further shattering the once ironclad code of silence that blanketed the $270 million drug enterprise. Of the six additional defendants named in the Atlanta indictment [PDF], four are still scheduled for trial, one was convicted at trial and one remains a fugitive.

Darryl “Poppa” Taylor, the first cousin of New York-based music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, received a three-year sentence reduction for his substantial assistance in the government’s investigation into BMF, which was headed by brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory. The Flenorys each received 30-year sentences in a separate case in Detroit.

In a court proceeding last year, Taylor said he was introduced to Terry Flenory by Combs’ chief of security, Paul Buford. Buford was indicted along with the Flenory brothers in 2005, but his case has not been resolved. Combs, who’s been described in court documents as a friend of the Flenorys, hasn’t been accused of any unlawful behavior related to BMF.

Taylor’s attorney, Steve Sadow, told the judge last week that Taylor — in addition to info he shared about Terry Flenory — might be able to offer the government insight into “activities going on in the Northeast.”

Had Taylor not cooperated in the investigation, he would have received a minimum of 10 years in federal prison, where there is no parole. Instead, he got just over seven years.

Barima “Bleu DaVinci” McKnight, the rapper who became the face of the Black Mafia Family’s now defunct record label, was sentenced to five years and four months. The sentence was eight months less than the government’s recommendation, due in part to him agreeing to share information with the feds — although he wasn’t willing to testify against other defendants.

(more…)

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Big Meech led BMF's Atlanta hub

After spending three years in a suburban Michigan jail, Black Mafia Family co-leader Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory is back in Georgia.

Meech and his brother, Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, were sentenced in September to 30 years in federal prison on charges that they ran a continuing criminal enterprise. BMF is estimated to have moved at least $270 million in cocaine in less than two decades. Nearly 150 defendants with ties to BMF have been indicted in seven states, including Georgia.

Meech, a flashy hip-hop entreprenuer, was prosecuted in federal court in his hometown Detroit, though he had lived in Atlanta (and, for a short while, Miami) for more than 10 years at the time of his 2005 arrest.

During a brief phone conversation Saturday, Meech said he was upbeat about starting his 30-year prison sentence. He recently was moved from the Michigan jail to one in rural Georgia, where he’s awaiting transfer to a federal prison in Jesup, Ga. He requested that particular prison so he could be close to Atlanta, where he and his crew were once a legendary presence in hip-hop clubs and on billboards that proclaimed, “The World is BMF’s.”

“I’ve got a lot of love down here,” he said.

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That’s what we’ve been told by James DuBose, the hopeful producer of a feature film about the Atlanta and L.A.-based Black Mafia Family and its heads, the Flenory brothers. Talking to CL from Hollywood, where his production company, DuBose Entertainment, makes reality-TV shows, DuBose says he’s secured all media rights to the BMF story from the big cheese, Demetrious “Big Meech” Flenory himself.

“It’ll be his story, as told by him,” DuBose says of the film he hopes to make about Flenory and his brother, Terry Flenory. “I’m going to get the facts from the source.”

Although he doesn’t have a theatrical distribution deal at this early stage – or a script, for that matter – DuBose says he hopes to start production on a movie sometime next year with a plan to shoot at least some of the scenes on location in Atlanta. The shooting budget could be as high as $20 million, he says – small beans for a studio film, but decent money for an independent production.

DuBose says he isn’t concerned that he may end up with a movie that’s slanted toward the point of view of a convicted crime syndicate kingpin eager to rehabilitate his image. “We just want to tell the truth,” DuBose says. “We want (the movie) to be as accurate as possible.”

It already seems clear that DuBose is planning a more sympathetic portrait of Flenory than that offered by, say, federal prosecutors.

“Meech has that Robin Hood thing going on,” he says, hinting at claims that the Flenorys aided poor neighborhoods with money and gifts. “This isn’t your typical story about young black men going to jail for dealing drugs; there’s a lot of different levels here and information that hasn’t come out yet.”

DuBose, however, says he hasn’t paid Flenory to authorize the project.

Previously, DuBose has produced such TV shows as “Blind Date” and “Bad Boys of Comedy,” and has worked with broadcast and cable networks. But he says he waited for just the right project to launch his company into feature films. Apparently, BMF is it.

(Full disclosure: My colleague, Mara Shalhoup, is completing work on a book on BMF to be published next year; that book has also been optioned for a movie.)

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DETROIT — Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and his brother, Terry “Southwest T,” were sentenced in federal court today to 30 years in prison for running the $270 million cocaine empire the Black Mafia Family.

BMF, which had one of its two hubs in Atlanta, has been linked to some of the city’s more sensational crimes and some of its best-known rappers, including Young Jeezy. Jeezy was implicated in BMF’s cocaine ring during the trial earlier this year of BMF’s third-in-command. The rapper has not been charged with a crime relating to the feds’ BMF investigation.

Meech, 40, and Terry, 38, pleaded guilty in November 2007 to running a continuing criminal enterprise. They’ve been locked up since their charges were unsealed in Detroit three years ago.

“I don’t think ‘I’m sorry’ is the right thing to say,” Meech told the judge minutes before he was sentenced. “’I’m sorry’ is what people say when they get caught.”

The CCE charge — which is similar to a RICO, or Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations case — can carry a life sentence, though the guilty pleas all but guaranteed that the brothers would serve less time. The government was pushing for 30-year sentences, though the judge indicated in November that he might be willing to go as low as the minimum 20 years. There is no parole in the federal system.

The Flenorys are among nearly 150 BMF associates who have been indicted in seven states: Georgia, Michigan, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri and California. The majority of those cases have been resolved — most recently, the federal trial in Atlanta of BMF’s third-in-command, Fleming “Ill” Daniels.

Daniels and several of his co-defendants, including the rapper Barima “Bleu DaVinci” McKnight, who pleaded guilty to cocaine charges, will be sentenced later this year.

More details to come at clfreshloaf.com.

(Photos courtesy of DeKalb County jail, top, and Wayne County, Mich., jail.)

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