THE ORIGINATORS OF HIP HOP FASHION III.
The Black Mafia Family or BMF is a drug crew that has left an undeniable imprint on Hip Hop culture and in particular that aspect of it referred to as Gangsta Rap.
THE BLACK MAFIA FAMILY AND BMF ENTERTAINMENT
THE DRUG ORGANIZATION: A) Documents filed in October 2006 in a federal case out of Detroit state: "Terry Lee Flenory and Demetrius Edward Flenory, by the early l990's, had established a drug organization which was dealing in kilogram quantities of cocaine in the Detroit metropolitan area. By the mid 1990's, the organization was extended into other areas of the United States including St. Louis, Mo., Los Angeles, Calif., and Atlanta, Ga. ... Eventually, Terry Lee Flenory and Demetrius Edward Flenory began to operate their illegal cocaine business from Atlanta, Ga., and Los Angeles, Calif., as well as Detroit. Between approximately 2001 and 2003, Terry Lee Flenory and Demetrius Edward Flenory began to refer to their activities as being part of an entity they called 'Black Mafia Family' (BMF)." The documents estimate that BMF possessed $270 million in homes, cars, jewelry and cash: "Such sum in aggregate is property representing the proceeds of the aforementioned offenses." B) At a January hearing in a federal case out of Detroit, DEA Special Agent Bob Bell testified, "At times over a thousand kilograms at a time would come into the country but ... multiple 100 kilograms of cocaine would be distributed around the country, sometimes monthly." Bell also told the court that the organization had "expanded in size and scope out to St. Louis and into Atlanta and Los Angeles. At one point primarily Demetrius Flenory resided and worked out of the Atlanta area and Terry Flenory out of the Los Angeles, California, area." C) A law enforcement source close the organization, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said BMF affiliates in Atlanta numbered in the hundreds. He described the scope of the organization as follows: "What surprises me about them is how organized they are, their theories on snitching, the fast lifestyle but with the cash flow to also support it. Oftentimes you get people bragging, but they can’t put their money where their mouth is. These guys couldn’t run out of money. The amount of seizures and money would have put not even the average but the above-average dealer out of business."
THE LEGIT BUSINESS: A) At the January hearing in Detroit, DEA Agent Bell said, "The information that we developed was that Black Mafia Family is the drug organization, and from that Black Mafia Entertainment was actually incorporated I believe in March of 2004 with the idea to -- I believe, if I'm using the right terminology, to produce music, rap type music, but that in many ways [the business was] all one and the same with the organization." B) Documents filed in January 2006 in the same case state that Meech "admitted to being the owner of BMF entertainment and the executive editor of Juice Magazine." C) Documents filed in May 2006 state, "These enterprises [BMF Entertainment and Juice magazine] are legitimate only in the sense that they are in the legal business of representing entertainers and publishing a magazine. The evidence in the case indicates that the money behind these ostensibly legitimate businesses comes from the illegitimate sale of cocaine."
MEECH'S HIP-HOP ASPIRATIONS: In the DVD magazine The Raw Report, Meech says: "What we focusing on right now is Bleu DaVinci. ... All our independent focus is on what Bleu DaVinci gonna do and how he's gonna make it. If he take off, then we take off. If he don't take off, then we don't want to take off. Simple. It's all around Bleu. We want Bleu in the best of everything, show him the best everything, show him that a person can come from nothing to something. ... That's basically what we're focusing on, getting Bleu DaVinci started, which is gonna bring BMF into the industry to be a major label like Universal, or Interscope or Dreamworks or Def Jam. ... We comin in at the top of the game. We got all the cars we want, all the houses we want, all the clothes we want, all the jewelry we want and all the ho's we want. We don't need nothing else but to make good music. That's it."
THE PARTY: At the January 2006 hearing in Detroit, DEA Agent Bell testified, "A birthday party ... was thrown on behalf of Demetrius Flenory in which records indicate more than $100,000 was spent to bring in exotic African-type animals and -- with models attending." He said the party was "in the Atlanta area" and that BMF had rented out "an entire club." Photos of the party, which was held in the summer of 2004 at Atlanta club Compound, can be viewed here.
THE VIDEO: In The Raw Report, Meech says BMF Entertainment can "just give Bleu $500,000 for his video." Documents filed in the federal case January 2006 state, "In a 2005 [sic] promotional video for the release of an album for BMF Entertainment's 'rap' artist, Blue DaVinci, Demetrius Flenory claimed that BMF had invested $500,000 to one million dollars in this single artist."
THE BUZZ: In an interview with CL, Georgia State University criminologist Volkan Topalli said of BMF, "They're a true mafia model. There is a code of silence. There is a mystique. What that's allowed them to do is create an underground buzz. It's very clever. There is silence from the members, but talk on the street is huge. The rumors create fear and notoriety and opportunity -- in the music business, in the drug business, in the recruitment business. Young guys, guys who don't really have anything to do with BMF, use their parties and CD releases to build cred. People will just drop the name. ... What made them so popular was, they took it to the next level. It's the difference between being a pimp with one prostitute and a pimp who owns a brothel."
DEA INTEREST: At the January 2006 hearing in Detroit, DEA Agent Bell described his familiarity with the DVD magazines depicting BMF. " I'm aware from a DVD in which ... Demetrius Flenory speaks, as well as others, that he ... was signing one artist to put all of his backing and large volumes of money backing one artist." He also described the DEA's use of wiretaps, surveillance and "testimony of witnesses and confidential sources." And he said that the agency "connected numerous large money and large multiple kilogram cocaine seizures back to the organization that occurred over time. Some seizures [were] random, some [were] from focus, you know, investigations into this organization."
THE LOCAL INVESTIGATION: According to an Atlanta Police incident report, the home invasion occurred shortly before 11 p.m. on Sept. 7, 2003, at 409 Angier Court. "[A]n unidentified black male was killed during a possible home invasion robbery attempt," the report states. "The homeowner suffered a gunshot wound during the incident as well." Former Fulton County prosecutor Cshey provided additional information on the home invasion, which he called the "impetus" for the local investigation into BMF. He said the town home housed a "giant walk-in safe" and that investigators found "a shoe and a kilo in the crawl space." He said investigators suspected the town home was a BMF "stash house" and that the invaders allegedly were looking for mass quantities of cocaine. He said the man who lived there, William Marshall, was a BMF affiliate (documents filed in the Detroit case support that claim). And Csehy described a meeting in the spring of 2004 during which Atlanta Police, local DEA and ATF agents, and representatives of the D.A.'s office were briefed on the presence of BMF and the need to crack down on the crew.
OUTSIDE CHAOS
HIP-HOP NIGHT: In the Nov. 13, 2003, AJC article, Bryan Alt said Monday night were his most profitable. "A lot of people spend a lot of money. That's one thing about hip-hop night. Guys come in to show off." He also said that doormen had started using metal detectors on Mondays to make sure patrons did not have weapons; he said the precaution was unnecessary on other nights.
THE CREW'S CHAMPAGNE: A) In the DVD magazines, in photos published in BMF Entertainment's magazine The Juice, and on Meech's MySpace page, crew members are shown with their own bottles of champagne, usually Perrier Jouet. B) According the May 2006 Vibe article, "Whenever BMF arrived at a nightclub, Meech paid everyone's cover and insisted that each member have a bottle of champagne. With the group often numbering in the dozens, this sometimes meant buying out a club's entire stock of Cristal." C) In the Smack DVD, Meech says that he can afford to spend $50,000 to $100,000 in a single night at the club.
THE FLENORY BROTHERS' EARLY YEARS: An Oct. 28, 2005, DEA press release states: "Initially based in Southwest Detroit, brothers Terry and Demetrius Flenory, the founders and ringleaders of the group, began their drug trafficking careers selling $50 bags of crack during their high school years in the mid-1980s." Meech's attorney, Drew Findling, outlined Meech's arrest and conviction history during a January 2006 hearing in federal court in Detroit.
MEECH'S EXCESS: A) According to the May 2006 Vibe article, Meech drove a Cadillac at the time of the Nov. 11, 2003, incident outside Chaos. And according to January 2006 testimony in federal court by DEA Agent Bell, "We did seize a Bentley directly from him." B) BMF affiliates describe the distribution of the necklaces in the DVD magazine The Raw Report. C) According to documents filed in October 2005 in federal court in Detroit, Meech, using a leasee, had rented a house at 9205 SW 58 Ave., Miami, for $30,000 per month.
THE WESTIN: In the DVD magazine The Raw Report, BMF's regular parties at the Westin are mentioned -- and one of them filmed in the hotel's presidential suite. BMF Entertainment's COO Chad "J-Bo" Brown was filmed en route to the Westin speaking into a walkie-talkie: "Meet us at the Westin, baby."
MEECH'S OFFERINGS: Beautiful women regularly show up flanking BMF members in the DVD magazines. "We get all kinds of women," Meech boasted in Smack. "Models, nobodies, hood rats. Everything. We do it all. We don't discriminate." In the same DVD, he also talked about spending $100,000 in a single night at the club. And he talked about how his crew traveled with him: "It don't make no difference if you the maid or if you the muthafuckin' bodyguard. Everybody gets extras around here, fringe benefits. Everybody travels from place to place and kick it with each other, and every place is like home."
THE SHOOT-OUT: A) According to a Nov. 11, 2003, Atlanta Police press release on the incident, "Multiple shots were fired." B) On Nov. 12, 2003, the AJC quoted Atlanta Police Maj. J.P. Spillane as saying Jones and Girdy "were armed." C) An affidavit filed in Fulton County Superior Court by Atlanta Police Investigator Torres states, "According to a witness ... [b]oth Girdy and Jones were also shooting." D) According to a Nov. 12, 2003, AllHipHop.com article, "police found at least 24 shell casings and bullet holes in nearby business establishments." E) An AJC article published the same day states that club owner Alt "was cashing out the night's receipts when he received a report of gunfire outside." According to the article, "Alt found a bartender and an off-duty Atlanta police officer, who worked security at the club, giving the 38-year-old Jones CPR, while two other people, who identified themselves as an off-duty paramedic and a nurse, helped shooting victim Lamont Girdy." F) According to an Atlanta Police incident report, "Upon their arrival [officers] found the victim, later identified as Girdy, dead on the scene with a firearm next to him. The second victim was transported to Grady Hospital where he died of multiple gun shot wounds to the chest." E) Meech's attorney, Findling, told CL that Meech was not armed that night. "He never possessed, never used, never had a gun. And in fact he was a victim."
THE WITNESS: A) The Atlanta Police report on the incident states, "While on the scene, this investigator [J.K. Brown] was contacted by phone by an unknown person and gave the suspect information and other details of the crime." B) At a Nov. 26, 2003, hearing in Fulton Superior Court, Brown testified that a call from the woman was transferred from 911 to him and that she said she saw "Meechie" fire more than a half-dozen shots. Brown told the court that the woman said she saw Meech "reach into the waistband of his pants and pull a pistol" and that she heard more shots as she fled the scene. Brown also said, "She was scared for her life and wouldn't give her name. She said people involved had a lot of money and a lot of drugs, and I didn't know what I was getting into." C) According to an affidavit filed in Fulton County by Atlanta Police Investigator Torres, "A witness who knows [Meech] stated that she saw him with a gun, running after Girdy and Jones and shooting at them. Both Girdy and Jones were also shooting." D) Meech's attorney, Findling, told CL that investigators on the scene "had immediately circled the area to preserve the integrity of the crime scene, not letting people in or out, securing names for interviews so as testimony of the individuals would not be tainted. After they clearly established all of that, they then said somebody called, whom was apparently not one of the people that was inside the tape. There was this unnamed person. There was never a name, no evidence that there was anybody accompanying her to corroborate her presence there. The whole thing was just comical.”
OTHER INJURIES: A) The Nov. 11, 2003, Atlanta Police press release states, "The Homicide Unit was notified that two additional suspects were involved in the shooting and were receiving medical treatment at North Fulton Hospital for non-life threatening gunshot wounds." B) The Atlanta Police incident report indicates that Meech had suffered a "serious" gunshot wound to the buttocks. C) The affidavit filed in relation to the case by Atlanta Police Investigator Torres states, "A bystander, who had no involvement with either group, was shot in the foot."
THE ARREST: A) The Atlanta Police press release states that Meech, "who had been transported to Atlanta Police headquarters from North Fulton Hospital, was identified by a witness and a warrant was secured for his arrest." It then states that Meech "was charged with two (2) counts of murder and transported to Fulton Co. jail". B) The Atlanta Police report on the incident lists Meech's arrest time as 7 p.m., Nov. 11, 2003, and the location as police headquarters. C) In an article in the summer 2005 issue of The Juice, Meech gives a different account of the arrest: "[I]t is funny cause [sic] no one ever mentions the fact that I was arrested in the hospital."
FROM CREATIVE LOAFING.
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