Last Thursday, HipHopDX reported on Bleu Davinci‘s sentencing for drug conspiracy charges [click to read]. On Saturday, the Atlanta-based rapper and actor contacted DX from a federal detention facility in Lovejoy, Georgia, to clarify other reports, that had implicated the onetime BMF Entertainment/Koch Records artist had provided testimony for a reduced sentence.
“It’s definitely not factual,” Bleu said of the misleading reports on other websites, blogs and newspapers. “I been hearing something about me cooperating with the government or something like that. That’s [definitely] not true.“
With a really optimistic tone, the rapper explained, “What actually happened to me was, I was sentenced from the guidelines of the criminal history category offense level, [established] by the US government. How that goes is basically, they charged me with one count of conspiracy, which carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison.“
He went further in depth, “When you don’t have a criminal history, you get what’s called a safety valve. What a safety valve does is to go outside of the guidelines for sentencing purposes. I was looking at 235-293 months starting off. The government came up with their little points scale, so they started me at offense level 38. They charged me responsible for 150 or more kilos of cocaine, which started my offense level at 38. What happened is, they considered me not to be an orchestrator or a leader, so I got a minor role reduction, which took four points off of my offense level, to a 34. I was then issued a safety valve – another two point reduction, which took me to a level 32, which is 121-151 months. I also got accepted for responsibility, when I signed my plea, which took another three levels off. That took me to a 29, which was 87-109 [months]. Once they [removed the gun charge], they got another two levels down, to 27.“
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This is where media outlets misinterpreted the sentence reduction. “So when I walked into the court room, I ended up with 70-87 months.” After further consideration from the judge, Bleu‘s sentence was cut to 64 months, and as he stresses – “With no cooperation.“
Bleu‘s affiliation with Black Mafia Family as an artist also caused the media to jump to conclusions. “They seen Meech get 30, they seen other people getting 16s, 12s, and eights and stuff like that. But most of those people have criminal history.“
After artists like C-Bo and 2Pac had lyrics and their association with rap music used against them in sentencing, Bleu Davinci‘s entertainment helped him in his hearing. “Other people had prior gun charges, prior drug charges; I had a clean record. That’s where I come off at, besides me being in entertainment. The judge took apart for herself.” Davinci and family members provided testimony of his career, along with fan letters, pay stubs and other documentation to show his entertainer career.
The artist also spoke of the sentence’s effect on his rap career. “I don’t intend on it stopping me at all. To me, it fuels my fire. I made a mistake. Everybody’s allowed to make mistakes, and everybody should get a chance to correct themselves. Once I’m released, I plan on correcting my mistakes and going full-fledged back into entertainment, whether it’s music, movies, production or club promotion.” “I gotta be doing the same thing when I come home in 100% positive manner and 100% legal manner.” He added that he has a large collection of unreleased material, but did not confirm any official upcoming releases.
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Having been serving time since December 15, 2007, Bleu‘s remaining time is ticking away quickly, as he may be relocated to a camp, followed by a potential stint in a halfway house. “[The judge] also recommended a drug program for me, so I can get off the weed,” he said.
Before ending the conversation with DX, Bleu spoke candidly to fans and young supporters. “I don’t want my boys growing up toting guns, selling drugs. I don’t want them going through that life. I obviously didn’t have to go through that life. This is something that I chose for myself, which I’ll reiterate it, was a mistake on my behalf. I just want to tell the fans and the kids to stick to some positivity.“
