[10] The Black Mafia Family under Demetrius Flenory entered the hip-hop music business as BMF Entertainment in the early 2000s as a front organization to launder money from cocaine sales and to legitimize itself.

In 2005, the DEA indicted members of the Black Mafia Family, ultimately securing convictions by targeting the Flenory brothers under the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute, and both were sentenced to 30 years imprisonment.

By 2000, the Flenory brothers had established a large organization overseeing multi-kilogram cocaine distribution sales in numerous U.S. states including Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee.

By the time charges were filed against the Flenorys, the government had 900 pages of typed transcripts of wiretapped conversations from Terry's phone in a five-month period.

Demetrius Flenory also sought his release under the same guidelines; however, a federal judge rejected the move, claiming it would be premature to authorize his release as his prison record suggests he has not changed and continues to promote himself as a drug kingpin, further stating his disciplinary record includes violations such as possession of a cell phone and weapons as well as drug use.

The Flenory brothers were already known to associate with numerous high-profile hip-hop artists including Sean Combs, Trina, T.I., Jay-Z, Young Jeezy and Fabolous.

Demetrius founded BMF Entertainment as a front organization for money laundering the cash generated by the cocaine distribution network but was also an attempt to create a legitimate business and legal source of income.

The organization's most highly visible appearance was in a full-length DVD produced by The Raw Report, which gave a detailed inside look at their movement.

It received wide acclaim from DJs for the Soundsmith Productions produced song "Streets on Lock",[18] headed by BMF affiliate Bleu Davinci and featuring Fabolous and Young Jeezy.

Creative Loafing senior editor Mara Shalhoup wrote a three-part series about the Black Mafia Family entitled Hip-Hop's Shadowy Empire,[20] which was the first in-depth report on the organization.

Shalhoup's book on the organization, BMF: The Rise and Fall of Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family, was published in March 2005.

[citation needed] Police investigation into the Black Mafia began sometime in the early 1990s, before the organization operated by Demetrius and Terry Flenory was named or reached peak distribution.

The lead-up to the October 2005 indictments began with a series of large drug seizures and subsequent informant testimonies from BMF members.

On April 11, 2004, BMF courier and high-level distributor Jabari Hayes was pulled over in Phelps County, Missouri along I-44 driving a 40-foot motor home,[clarification needed] supposedly for swerving over the fog line.

Two suitcases containing approximately 95 kilograms of cocaine and 572 grams of marijuana were found in the back of the Range Rover after a K-9 unit alerted to drugs in the vehicle.

Hoskins informed them that he had grown up with two brothers, Omari McCree and Jeffrey Leahr, who were BMF members and able to supply multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine regularly.

When picked up on June 8, 2005, Unknown signed a confidential-source agreement and described his role in BMF, naming Demetrius Flenory as the source of the cocaine.

Terry was captured in St. Louis with small amounts of marijuana and weapons found throughout the house, which was also occupied by multiple people at the time of the arrest.

The indictment charged all defendants with participating in the nationwide cocaine distribution conspiracy, which carries a penalty of between 10 years and life in prison, and up to a $4 million fine.

Barima "Bleu DaVinci" McKnight, the rapper and sole artist of BMF Entertainment, was sentenced on October 30, 2008, to five years and four months in federal prison.

Jonez, who was known to have played a role in Soulja Boy's label SODMG, and gang ties to Long Beach California's Rolling 20s Crips began making music under the BMF Entertainment umbrella.

The federal government believes the 150 they have indicted and arrested account for the command and control structure, as well as other key figures in the organization, such as distributors, stash house operators, and transporters.

In 2021, a drama television series called Black Mafia Family premiered on STARZ, produced by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson.