Rapper Bleu DaVinci [click to read], aka Barima P. McKnight was recently convicted, along with ten other Black Mafia Family members, who were sentenced over the week for their roles in the BMF cocaine distribution organization.
Bleu DaVinci, the sole artist of BMF Entertainment received a sentence of five years, four months. Among the ten BMF members sentenced this week, the jail time ranged from four to over 16 years in prison.
BMF Entertainment, which had a distribution deal with Koch Records, is said to have helped promote Bleu DaVinci’s career as well as other artists, including Young Jeezy.
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BMF, which began with brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory selling cocaine in Detroit during the late ’80’s, is said to have extended their reach to over eleven states. As the family’s success grew, they moved form street sales to distribution, and to other markets such as the music industry.
In September, after numerous raids, “Big Meech” and “Southwest T” pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 30 years in prison, crippling the empire. Over 40 members of the family have received or are awaiting sentencing in connection with the takedown of the BMF organization.
Bleu DaVinci, originally from Carson, California was arrested in Atlanta and believed to have been running the local operations while high ranking family members were on trial. Yet, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bleu took responsibility for his actions as his sentence was handed down.
“Eighty thousand sorries won’t work, and I know that,” said Bleu. “I have to own up to my actions.”
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Bleu DaVinci had worked with artists Young Jeezy, Bun B, E-40 and Trick Daddy before his arrest. Franklin Nash, who was also indicted in a related case, will be sentenced today.
In 2006, HipHopDX.com interviewed Bleu DaVinci [click to read]. During the interview, the rapper vehemently denied any illegal involvement BMF had with drugs: “Any nigga know in his right
mind that you can’t mix the good with the bad. I don’t care what you
doing. You could be doing credit card fraud, but you not gonna be doing
that in the name of illegal shit. Why would I come out tryna be BMF
Ent? Why would we do that and be doing something illegal with it? That
don’t make since you know you gonna get in trouble for that. If that
was the point, a lot of these artists would be in jail.“
Reported by Benjamin Chesna.
