Demetrius Flenory Sr. is a 55-year-old American Michigan-based drug lord jailed in September 2008. His release date was initially slated for November 2031, but he got a compassionate reduction in 2021 and his new release date is currently 2028.
Demetrius, or Big Meech as he is fondly called, co-founded the Black Mafia Family organization alongside his younger brother Terry Flenory, aka Southwest T. Together, the Flenory brothers led one of the biggest drug-pedaling businesses in the United States. The activities under BMF inspired a lot of projects, including a TV series, an upcoming docu-series, and a book.
Summary of Demetrius Flenory Sr.’s Biography
- Full Name: Demetrius Flenory Sr.
- Nickname: Big Meech
- Gender: Male
- Date of Birth: 21st June 1968
- Demetrius Flenory Sr.’s Age: 55 years old
- Ethnicity: Afro American
- Nationality: American
- Zodiac Sign: Cancer
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
- Religion: Christianity
- Marital Status: Single
- Demetrius Flenory Sr.’s Children: Demetrius Flenory Jr.
- Demetrius Flenory Sr.’s Parents: Charles Flenory (father) and Lucille Flenory (mother)
- Siblings: Terry Flenory, also known as Southwest T and Nicole Flenory
- Demetrius Flenory Sr. s Height in Inches: 5 ft 8 in
- Demetrius Flenory Sr.’s Height in Centimetres: 172 cm
- Demetrius Flenory Sr.’s Weight: 75 kg
- Demetrius Flenory Sr.’s Net Worth: $500k
- Famous For: Being a former drug lord
- Demetrius Flenory Sr.’s Instagram: @bmfbigmeech
How Old is Big Meech Now?
Demetrius Flenory Sr. is currently 55 years old as he was born on the 21st of June 1968. His place of birth is listed as Cleveland, Ohio, which is an indication of his American nationality. His physical appearance shows that he belongs to the Afro-American ethnic background.
Flenory was given the full moniker Demetrius Edward Flenory at birth, but when he started his drug-dealing business, he assumed the alias Big Meech, which went on to become more popular than his birth name.
Big Meech’s parents have been identified as Charles (father) and Lucille Flenory (mother). Nothing much is known about the former drug lord’s parents; their individual professions are not known, but it was reported that neither Charles nor Lucille had anything to do with their children’s involvement in the underworld.
Meech’s academic records have never been revealed, but it is common knowledge that the former drug lord attended high school in Detroit. It was during his days as a high school student that he started what later became the Black Mafia Family.
Demetrius Flenory Sr. is not the Only Child of His Parents
Apart from Demetrius Flenory Sr., Charles and Lucille gave birth to two other children. Meech is a couple of years older than his younger brother, Terry Flenory, also known as Southwest T. Terry was born on the 10th of January 1970, and his birth occurred in Detroit, Michigan. Meech’s younger brother followed him into the drug and entertainment business, and together, they gained unprecedented fame as the Black Mafia Family.
Meech’s only sister is an American lady who goes by the name Nicole Flenory. Nicole was born in 1974 and is currently 50. Her place of birth is listed as Dartmouth, Detroit.
Meech Started Pedaling Drugs from an Early stage
Demetrius Flenory Sr. was still a high school student when the former drug peddler started combing the streets of Detroit, selling illegal substances. He launched the business alongside his younger brother, Southwest T. Together, the Flenory brothers assumed the moniker 50 Boyz.
The brothers launched their business during the latter part of the 1980s, and they were selling in smaller quantities from the beginning. Barely 20 decades later, in the early 2000s, the brother duo went on to create a gigantic organization overseeing the distribution and sales of multi-kilograms of illegal substances in several states in America, including Atlanta, Detroit, and several other distribution hubs.
Reports submitted by the US Department of Justice said the peak of the duo’s drug-dealing business was witnessed between 2003 and 2004.
The Launch of the Black Mafia Family
After Demetrius Flenory Sr. and Southwest T. started making headway with their drug distribution business, they went ahead to launch the notorious BMF – The Black Mafia Family.
After the company was founded in 1985, it grew to become one of the biggest drug trafficking organizations in the United States. The brothers cited that their drug source base in Los Angeles and Atlanta was directly linked to Mexican drug cartels.
The Los Angeles-based hub was run by Meech’s younger brother, Terry Flenory, and its major focus was handling shipments coming into the US from Mexico. Once the products are received in LA, they are sent down to the Atlanta hub, where Big Meech reigned supreme.
BMF Entertainment Record Label
By the time Demetrius Flenory Sr. and Southwest T.’s drug pedaling business clocked five years in 2000, the brothers started hatching plans to get a frontal business that would cover up for the tons of money that was coming into their company. It was then that they joined the American hip-hop music business under BMF Entertainment.
Going forward, the duo started using their record label company to launder huge funds coming in from the sale of cocaine. Once they receive money from any shipment, the drug-dealing brothers would pass it off as revenue from their imprint. The arrangement was done in a bid to give legitimacy to their illegal money.
Although BMF Entertainment was initially founded as a frontal business for money laundering, it went on to record huge success in the hip-hop scene, promoting the careers of several high-profile hip-hop artists, including Bleu DaVinci. Demetrius Flenory Sr.’s imprint was also associated with several high-profile American artists, including the likes of Diddy, Trina, Jay-Z, T.I., Young Jeezy, Fabolous, and more.
With that said, it is glaring that the notorious BMF did not just generate illegal money; the drug-pedaling brothers also made a lot of legal money through their record label company.
The imprint’s key signee, Bleu Da Vinci, recorded a lot of success in his music career under the watch of Meech and Southwest T. His studio album titled World Is BMF became a nominee for a Source Award in 2005.
The BMF Entertainment record label went on to record appearances in multiple underground hip-hop DVD magazines; notable among them were several issues of The Come Up and S.M.A.C.K.
BMF Entertainment’s most visible appearance to date was recorded in a full-length DVD from the stables of The Raw Report; this gave a well-detailed inside look at the cartel’s movement. Included in the DVD was a cover article by Vibes on the Black Mafia Family company in May 2006. It went on to receive wide acclaim from the likes of Disc Jockey for the Soundsmith Productions track “Streets on Lock,” with BMF affiliate Bleu Davinci as the lead and featuring Young Jeezy and Fabolous. It was speculated that they produced a music video for the single, though it never got released to date.
Another factor that gave the BMF wide popularity in the American hip-hop popular culture is Big Meech and Southwest T.’s lifestyle, which was described as extremely extravagant. The brothers cruise around town in the most expensive automobile and throw very expensive parties, and the excess money they make goes into the purchase of luxury real estate in high-brow areas in the United States.
Big Meech’s Arrest
The business was going well for Demetrius Flenory Sr. and his brother, Southwest T., till 2003, when they locked heads in a feud that eventually resulted in their separation. After they agreed to go their separate ways, Mecch chose to remain in their headquarters in Atlanta, while Terry opted to start heading his own organization in Los Angeles.
As they were splitting, Big Meech expressed concern that Terry’s flamboyant lifestyle of loud partying would likely be their undoing and may finally unearth their operations and that was exactly what happened.
Barely two years after their split in 2005, the brothers aroused a lot of suspicions from the authorities. Before long, the DEA started indicting members of the BMF while targeting Meech and Terry under the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute.
Through Terry’s phone, the DEA eventually laid hands on 900 pages of transcripts of the brother’s wiretapped conversations. Leading to their arrest before the end of 2005.
By the time they were arraigned in court in November 2007, the drug-pedaling duo had damning evidence against them, and with no more hiding place, they were forced to plead guilty to charges bothering on drug trafficking, money laundering, and more.
How Many Years Was Demetrius Flenory Sr. Sentenced To?
In September 2008, Demetrius Flenory Sr. and his younger brother, Southwest T. received 30 years sentence each. Following this, the duo was moved to Oregon Prison, Oregon, where they started serving their prison sentence.
With the conclusion of their case, the American authorities moved into the Black Mafia Family company and went on to confiscate all they could lay their hands on. After the FBI successfully dismantled the BMF, it was reported that the company was worth a whopping $270 million.
When is Demetrius Flenory Sr.’s Release Date?
After he was sentenced to 30 years in prison in September 2008, Demetrius Flenory Sr. was scheduled for release on November 2031 after he must have completed 360 months behind bars.
However, the former drug kingpin chose to spend his early days in prison promoting himself with the legacy he left as one of the most successful drug peddlers of all time. From the reports filed about Meech, nothing in his conduct and self-promotion suggests that he has changed one bit.
His unpalatable behavior behind bars was his undoing when Big Meech filed for compassionate release alongside his brother Terry. It happened that Terry’s request was approved, and he was freed to continue serving his sentence under house arrest, but Meech’s case was treated differently. Terry’s release was granted as a result of health concerns during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020
Dawn Ison, a renowned US attorney, personally opposed the drug lords filing for early release, citing his self-promotion behind bars as evidence that Demetrius Flenory Sr. wasn’t ready to turn a new leaf.
Perhaps because he was denied compassionate release the first time, Meech made sure to change, and when his case was revisited, he was declared to have met the criteria of the revised chemical quantity and drug quantity tables for all drug offenses and offenders under the new US Sentencing Commission amendments 782 and 788. People who were stipulated to be eligible for the revised policy were offenders involved in drug cases drug and hard substance cases after the first of November 2014; this obviously puts Meech in this category.
Considered eligible to benefit from the revised policy, Big Meech received some good news on Monday, June 14th, 2021, when U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson granted him a prison sentence reduction. Instead of the earlier stipulated 360 months, the former cartel co-founder is now slated to be released in 2028 after serving 324 months. This newest development cut down his sentence by three years.
At the time of this pronouncement, Demetrius Flenory Sr. had already completed 16 years behind bars.
The news of Mecch’s early release was well received by his diehard fans, and top on the list was American rapper 50 Cent who is neck-deep into the production of the Black Mafia Family TV series. Taking to his Instagram handle @therapmogul, the rap artist wrote,
“YES! Now you know this BMF show is gonna blow everything off the fucking TV, the real shit different!”. “Green Light Gang.”
The Black Mafia Series was Inspired by Demetrius Flenory Sr. and Southwest T.’s Story
The popularity of the Black Mafia Family Inspired the production of a good number of projects, and notable among them is the Starz series of the same name.
The BMF show features movie greats like La La Anthony, Jasun Jabbar Wardlaw Jr., Tyshon Freeman, Detroit rapper Kash Doll, and Michole Briana White.”
At a point in the series, Snoop Dogg is coming to be featured as Pastor Swift in a recurring role. Swift was the spiritual advisor of the Flenory family.
The key characters in the series are Big Meech and Terry, depicted by Demetrius Flenory Jr. (Lil Meech) and Abraham Da’Vinchi Juste. Demetrius Flenory Jr. is the only known child of the former drug lord and the best man for the job. So far, he has done an excellent job in the first season of the show, and the series is already slated for season two, though fans still await the release date.
Other projects inspired by the Black Mafia Family include a docu-series, which is reportedly in the post-production stage. The production of the project is also going to be handled by 50 Cent.
Talking about the success of the first season of Black Mafia Family, the president and Chief Executive Officer of Starz, Jeffrey Hirsch, said the show’s success so far has demonstrated a continued rise in the interest of fans and their demand for the story.
Mara Shalhoup, who works with Creative Loafing as a senior editor, wrote a three-part series centered on the BMF titled Hip-Hop’s Shadowy Empire. This marked the debut in-depth report about the cartel. In March 2005, he published the book BMF: The Rise and Fall of Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family.
What Is Demetrius Flenory Sr.’s Net Worth?
During the peak of business in the Black Mafia family, Demetrius Flenory Sr. was reportedly worth an astounding $100 million. However, after he was arrested and jailed, many of his assets were confiscated by the US government, though there are speculations that he succeeded in hiding some valuable properties from the authorities.
In recent times, Big Meech’s bottom line is listed as $500k, and talking about his source of income, fans believe that he may be getting paid from the proceeds of the ongoing Black Mafia Family series on Starz, but this piece of information is yet to be confirmed.
