Big Meech, the infamous co-founder of the Black Mafia Family crime syndicate, has been spotted inside a Miami halfway house following his release from federal prison.
Demetrius ‘Big Meech’ Flenory, 56, was photographed Saturday wearing an all-black suit and hugging another man inside the facility where he will serve the remainder of his sentence for helping build a nationwide money laundering and trafficking operation. drugs.
He was arrested in October 2005, when the Drug Enforcement Administration dismantled his and his brother’s nationwide drug trafficking operation, and was sentenced in 2008 to 30 years behind bars.
But earlier this year, a judge shortened his sentence by nearly three years, after his attorney argued that he remained an upstanding citizen while serving time, including by earning his GED, doing well in other classes and staying out of trouble. issues.
Demetrius ‘Big Meech’ Flenory was arrested in October 2005, when the Drug Enforcement Administration dismantled his and his brother’s nationwide drug trafficking operation.
The man, now 56, was photographed Saturday wearing an all-black suit and hugging another man inside the Miami halfway house where he will serve the rest of his sentence.
the lawyer, Brittany K Barnett, he told TMZ meech He used his time in prison to focus on his personal growth and said he now has the opportunity to start a new chapter in life.
His release was celebrated by Lebron James, who took to social media to write “Welcome home Big Meech!!” with a greeting emoji.
The Lakers star’s praise sparked a backlash from fans who were disappointed that the Lakers star would compliment a convicted drug dealer.
‘Lebron supports drug dealers?!?!?!?! It’s not my goat,” wrote one user on X.
Meech founded Big Mafia Family, also known as BMF, in 1985 as a creative agency and hip hop label with his brother, Terry Lee, also known as ‘Southwest Tee.’
He promoted and partnered with emerging hip hop artists such as Jay Z, Newsweek reports.
But in the early 2000s, federal agents determined that the company was just a front for a nationwide cocaine trafficking and money laundering scheme, in which the brothers raised more than $270 million.
They said Demetrius was based in Atlanta, handling distribution, while Terry was in Los Angeles handling drug shipments for Mexican cartels.
He had founded Big Mafia Family, also known as BMF, in 1985 as a creative agency and hip hop label with his brother, Terry Lee, also known as ‘Southwest Tee’.
He The Organized Crime Anti-Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Special Operations Division relied on information from low-level traffickers and high-level distributors who worked for BMF in their investigation, as they seized large quantities of drugs.
In October 2005, the DEA conducted a large-scale raid and arrested 30 members of the operation.
Agents also seized $2 million in cash and assets, including weapons and two and a half kilograms of cocaine, while other law enforcement officers seized $21 million worth of assets, including cash, jewelry, 13 homes in the metropolitan area of Detroit, Los Angeles and Georgia, as well as three dozen vehicles.
Officers had also tapped Terry’s phone and overheard a conversation in which he expressed concern about Demetrius’ excessive partying and the damage it was causing to his company.
The two brothers were later charged and prosecutors presented 900 pages of transcripts of conversations heard from Terry’s phone over five months.
They were charged under the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and two counts of possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms. of cocaine.
Meanwhile, the Treasury Department reported in 2006 that another 16 people had been charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and money laundering, bringing the total number involved in the crime syndicate to 49. But in 2009, that number increased to 150.
Demetrius was sentenced to 30 years in prison for building a criminal enterprise
His attorney requested a shorter sentence earlier this year, noting that he earned his GED in prison and has been well-behaved.
The Flenory brothers ultimately pleaded guilty to running an ongoing criminal enterprise “involving the large-scale distribution of cocaine throughout the United States from 1990 to 2005,” according to court documents.
Then, in November 2007, each of them was sentenced to serve 30 years behind bars.
“The BMF was a violent and sophisticated drug smuggling and money laundering organization that began here in Detroit, Michigan,” Special Agent in Charge Robert Corso said at the time.
‘Terry and Demetrius Flenory expanded what was a small local operation into a multi-state, multi-million dollar criminal enterprise with direct ties to Mexico-based drug cartels.
“Today’s sentences demonstrate that no matter how big the operation is or how much money a drug trafficker makes illegally, eventually the law and justice will catch up,” he said.
The agent added: “This community and communities across America are safer with the Flenory brothers behind bars.”
Terry was released from home confinement on May 5, 2020, after being granted compassionate relief for health issues amid the COVID pandemic, and Demetrius was transferred from FCI Coleman Low in Wildwood, Florida last week to the rehabilitation center overseen by the Bureau of Prisons’ Miami Residential Reentry Program.