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 BMF (Black Mafia Family) founders and brothers, Terry "Southwest T" and Demetrius "Big Meech" Flenory, were sentenced to 30 years in prison on Friday (September 12) for running a large scale nationwide cocaine trafficking ring, reports the Detroit Free Press.
The brothers pleaded guilty last year to heading a continuing criminal enterprise, which trafficked large volumes of cocaine throughout the nation from 1990 through 2005.
Their organization generated hundreds of millions of dollars during that time period, affording them luxurious homes, cars, boats, and jewelry. Some of their money was filtered through legitimate business such as BMF Entertainment, a record label who released music from artists such as Bleu DaVinci (who himself was indicted on drug conspiracy charges).
Under terms of a plea bargain, the brothers agreed to forfeit $270 million to the government.
BMF began in the early 1990s in Detroit, authorities said, and eventually extended their activities to Missouri, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, California and Texas -- using vehicles equipped with hidden compartments to transport cocaine and cash.
65 people have been indicted in the BMF case, most of which have pleaded guilty and half have been sentenced, the U.S. Attorney's Office told the paper.
In massive seizures in the case, the government has taken more than $19 million in assets from ring members -- including 13 homes, 35 vehicles, over $5 million in cash, and millions of dollars worth of jewelry.
One of the best-known defendants in the case was famed jeweler Jacob Arabov (aka Jacob The Jeweler) who, back in June, was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison, and fined $50,000 for lying to federal agents investigating the drug ring. He was originally arrested for conspiring to launder money for the BMF.
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