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Black Mafia leader Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory may not be getting out of prison anytime soon.
READ MORE: Coronavirus hits U.S. prisons, putting imprisoned populations at risk
The Detroit News reported that Big Meech argued that his age, 51, and various ailments including hypertension and heart trouble, made him eligible for a compassionate release amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Federal authorities released his younger brother Terry Flenory, 50, from the Kentucky federal prison on home confinement Tuesday with six more years remaining on his sentence.
Big Meech’s brother Southwest-T being released from prison today due to the Coronavirus outbreak! His original release date was 2026. pic.twitter.com/VSUEo4hYuN
— Saycheese TV 👄🧀 (@SaycheeseDGTL) May 5, 2020
“Terry Flenory is a really good guy and anyone who knows him would agree with that,” his former defense lawyer Steve Fishman said. “He has served a lot of time, and I am very happy to hear he’s coming home.”
Demetrius will remain where he is for the time being at an Oregon prison as U.S. District Judge David Lawson declared his request on Monday as “premature”. The Feds have not formally responded yet to his plea. Demetrius made his bid for release on April 22 and is scheduled to be released on October 31, 2031.
Wade Fink, an attorney representing Demetrius, contacted theGrio to clarify that his client’s request had not been officially denied. The presiding judge asked them to wait 12 more days to ask for judicial intervention and has not yet decided on his release.
The drug trafficking brothers oversaw a powerful cocaine empire that reaped $270 million in profits that started while they were still in high school. Demetrius started out selling $50 rocks of crack cocaine on the streets of Detroit. By 1990, their drug ring distributed thousands of kilograms of cocaine across 11 states, including Detroit, Atlanta, Miami, St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Alabama.
In Atlanta alone, the BMF distributed 2,500 kilos a month. Demetrius also laundered money through his BMF Entertainment record label which was co-owned by JUICE Magazine. They are credited with helping launch the career of Atlanta-based rapper Jeezy.
READ MORE: ‘Last Prisoner Project’ calls for release of cannabis prisoners during COVID-19
The brothers and more than a thousand co-conspirators were arrested in 2005. Investigators seized $21 million worth of their assets including cash, jewelry, 13 homes in Metro Detroit, Georgia and Los Angeles, and multiple vehicles. The Flenorys were sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for their 15-year drug organization that had ties to Mexican cartels.
Both sought early release due to the COVID-19 virus but federal prosecutors only granted it to Terry. The court filing declared that Demetrius was still too enamored with “money, cars, houses, clothes, jewelry and ho’s,” and that he remained violent. His disciplinary record while in prison has included being written up for using drugs and possession of a cell phone and a weapon.
“During his time in prison, Flenory continues to promote himself, and, through others, his legacy as a highly successful professional drug dealer,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison wrote in a Friday court filing. “Nothing in that promotion remotely suggests that Flenory has changed.”
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