Big Meech was part of the Black Mafia Family with his brother Southwest T. They ran drugs since the 1980?s through 2005 when they were arrested and charged by the DEA. Along the way, Big Meech also started the record label BMF Entertainment.
Demetrius ?Big Meech? Flenory started out break dancing and DJing in Detroit in the 1980?s. Over the course of 20 years he and his brother built up the Black Mafia Family (BMF). The organization was mainly a nationwide drug distribution network. But in 2000 they started a record label under the name BMF Entertainment. While Big Meech was amassing cash and music industry cred, the federal government was tracking the movements of his organization and when he was jailed in 2005 it is estimated that he was worth $100 million.
Big Meech, born Demetrius Edward Flenory on June 21, 1968 and his brother, born Terry Lee Flenory January 10, 1972, known as Southwest T, started out on the streets of Detroit. There they began dealing cocaine while in high school. He stated in a 2012 interview that he grew up at home with his brother, and sister in a home where both parents were present and neither did drugs or had a drinking problem. They grew up poor and subsisted on WIC (Women, Infants, Children food and nutrition service), and food stamps. They wore the same clothes for days and had holes in their shoes and eventually needed to come up with a large sum of cash fast or be thrown out on the streets. So he and his brother turned to the streets and started dealing cocaine.
The drug dealing continued and expanded through the late 1980?s to 2005. Big Meech and his brother developed a nationwide drug distribution business with an estimated $270 million in sales. Their drug empire spanned 12 states, from California to Florida and up to Michigan. In 2001 the two split over a dispute with Southwest T living in California and Big Meech in Atlanta where he had started BMF Entertainment. The record company signed artists including Young Jeezy, and Bleu DaVinci.
In 2005, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) had collected over 900 pages of evidence through various wiretapping operations and testimonies from others, including the seizure of 95 kilograms of cocaine and 572 grams of marijuana in a single bust in 2004. Then in 2005, the DEA conducted a massive raid that caught 30 BMF members, $3 million cash, and around 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) of cocaine. That was in addition to nearly eleven million dollars in cash and assets collected in previous raids. In 2005 Big Meech and his brother were charged with running a continuing criminal enterprise, possession of more than 500 kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute, and another two counts of of intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine as well as another charge of conspiracy for the same. They were also charged with conspiracy toward money laundering, Big Meech was arrested outside Dallas in possession of marijuana, MDMA, and several weapons.
Big Meech was sentenced to 30 years and is expected to be released when he is 61 years old. He is currently held at USP Lompoc in California.
