News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 12, 2008
Contact: Rich Isaacson
Number: (313) 234-4310

Black Mafia Family Members Sentenced to 30 Years

SEPT 12 -- (Detroit, MI) - Robert L. Corso, Special Agent in Charge of DEA’s Detroit Field Division joined Acting United States Attorney Terrence Berg today to announce that Terry Flenory and Demetrius Flenory, the two brothers who led the large scale drug trafficking organization known as the Black Mafia Family were sentenced in United States District Court.

Both brothers, originally of southwest Detroit, were sentenced after having pleaded guilty to being the leaders of a continuing criminal enterprise involving the large scale distribution of cocaine throughout the United States from 1990 through 2005. United States District Court Judge Avern Cohn sentenced Terry Flenory, 38, and Demetrius Flenory, 40, both, to 30 years for being the leaders of the BMF criminal enterprise. The brothers were also sentenced to 20 years for money laundering.

According to the charges in the indictment, Terry Flenory, 38, and his brother, Demetrius Flenory, 40, operated a drug organization, named the "Black Mafia Family" (BMF), which dealt in multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine in the Detroit metropolitan area beginning in the early 1990's. By the mid 1990's, the organization extended its drug trafficking activities into other parts of the country, including Missouri, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, California and Texas. As part of the conspiracy, BMF would use vehicles equipped with hidden compartments to conceal and transport cocaine and the cash generated from the sale of cocaine.

Since 2000, law enforcement officers from across the country have seized over 476 kilograms of cocaine destined for distribution by this organization. More than $5 million in cash was seized by law enforcement officers between October 1997 and June 2005. The members of this organization, using the illegal proceeds of their narcotic sales, purchased and leased numerous luxury vehicles, acquired and sold real property and purchased jewelry while concealing the true source and nature of the funds involved in the transaction through false names and nominee purchasers.

Members of the organization would deposit large amounts of cash derived from the sale of cocaine into various bank accounts which would be used to purchase cashier’s checks and money orders, or be transferred to purchase assets or pay personal expenses in an attempt to provide the appearance of legitimate source of cash. Members of the organization would also purchase winning four-digit State of Michigan lottery tickets with drug proceeds from an individual who obtained them from the true winners in cash. These winning tickets, valued at over $1 million, would be redeemed with the State of Michigan's lottery bureau and used to purchase homes, make mortgage payments, and purchase vehicles, hiding the fact that the true source of the money was derived from Flenorys' drug organization cocaine sales.

Since the indictment in this case, the government has forfeited over $19 million in assets. To date, forfeitures associated with the Flenory organization have included multi-million dollars in jewelry, 13 residences, 35 vehicles, including a Lincoln limousine, an Aston-Martin, BMW’s, Range Rovers, and Bentleys, over $5 million in cash seizures, numerous bank accounts and a money judgment totaling $270 million. The real property is located in Detroit, Canton, Southfield, Ecorse, Romulus, Lithonia, Georgia and Los Angeles, California.

Sixty-five defendants have been charged in this district alone in connection with the Flenory drug organization. Over one hundred co-conspirators have been charged nationwide.

Special Agent in Charge Corso stated, "The BMF was a violent, sophisticated drug smuggling and money laundering organization that began right here in Detroit, Michigan. Terry and Demetrius Flenory expanded what was a small, local operation, into a multi-state, multi-million dollar criminal enterprise with direct links to Mexican based drug-trafficking cartels. Today's sentencings demonstrate that no matter how large the operation, or how much money a drug trafficker makes illegally, eventually the law and justice will catch up. This community and communities across the United States are safer with the Brothers Flenory behind bars. This investigation is a shining example of the tireless efforts and exemplary cooperation between of men and women of DEA and our federal, state and local counterparts across the United States."

Acting U. S. Attorney Berg said, “Combating gangs and other types of organized crime is a priority of this office. Our Project Safe Neighborhoods has recently received $2 million from the Department of Justice. This money will be used to eradicate gangs that use violence to control our neighborhoods and promote drug and gun trafficking, and other crimes. Criminals must look at these sentences and decide if 30 years imprisonment is worth being part of a gang or other criminal organization."

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