Big Meech, co-founder of the Black Mafia Family, released from federal prison

Big Meech, the infamous co-founder of the Black Mafia Family crime syndicate, has been released from federal prison.

According to TMZ, Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory, 56, was transferred Tuesday from FCI Coleman Low in Wildwood, Florida, to community custody monitored by the Bureau of Prison's Miami Residential Re-entry Program.

He is currently serving his sentence for setting up a nationwide money laundering and drug smuggling operation at a temporary detention center and is expected to be released on January 27, 2026, Complex reports.

Flenory was arrested in October 2005 when the Drug Enforcement Administration broke up his and his brother's nationwide drug trafficking operation, and he was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2008.

But earlier this year, a judge reduced his sentence by nearly three years after Barnett argued that he remained an upstanding citizen during his time in prison, including earning his GED, doing well in other classes and staying out of trouble.

Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory, 56, was transferred Tuesday from FCI Coleman Low in Wildwood, Fla., to community custody monitored by the Bureau of Prison's Miami Residential Re-entry Program

Flenory's attorney, Brittany K Barnett, told TMZ she is “overjoyed” that he is free after nearly 20 years behind bars.

She added that he used his time in prison to focus on personal growth and that he now has the opportunity to start a new chapter in life.

He had founded Big Mafia Family, also known as BMF, as a creative agency and hip-hop label in 1985 with his brother Terry Lee, also known as “Southwest Tee”.

It promoted and was associated with up-and-coming hip-hop artists such as Jay Z, Newsweek reports.

But in the early 2000s, federal officials concluded that the company was just a front for a nationwide cocaine trafficking and money laundering scheme in which the brothers reaped more than $270 million.

They said Demetrius was based in Atlanta and was in charge of distribution, while Terry was in Los Angeles handling shipments of the drug from Mexican drug cartels.

He had founded Big Mafia Family, also known as BMF, as a creative agency and hip-hop label in 1985 with his brother Terry Lee, also known as “Southwest Tee”.

A The Organized Crime Task Force's anti-narcotics investigation – with help from the Drug Enforcement Agency's Special Operations Division – relied on information from low-level dealers and high-level distributors who worked for the BMF to distribute large quantities of drugs confiscate.

By October 2005, the DEA conducted a large-scale raid and arrested 30 members of the operation.

Officers also seized $2 million in cash and assets – including weapons and two and a half kilograms of cocaine, while other law enforcement officers seized $21 million in assets – including cash, jewelry and 13 homes in metropolitan Detroit, Los Angeles and Georgia and three dozen vehicles.

Big Mafia Family promoted and maintained contacts with up-and-coming hip-hop artists such as Jay Z

Agents had also tapped Terry's phone and overheard a conversation in which he expressed concerns about Demetrius' excessive partying and the damage it was causing to their business.

The two brothers were later charged, with prosecutors producing 900 pages of wiretapped call logs from Terry's phone over the course of five months.

They were charged under the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and two counts of possession with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine accused of distributing cocaine.

Meanwhile, the Treasury Department reported in 2006 that 16 additional people had been charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and money laundering, bringing the total number of people involved in the crime syndicate to 49. However, by 2009 that number increased to 150.

Demetrius was sentenced to 30 years in prison for setting up the criminal enterprise

His attorney argued for a reduced sentence earlier this year, pointing out that he earned his GED in prison and was well behaved

According to court documents, the Flenory brothers eventually pleaded guilty to running an ongoing criminal enterprise “that involved the large-scale distribution of cocaine throughout the United States from 1990 to 2005.”

In November 2007 they were each sentenced to 30 years in prison.

“The BMF was a violent, sophisticated drug smuggling and money laundering organization founded right here in Detroit, Michigan,” Special Agent in Charge Robert Corso said at the time.

“Terry and Demetrius Flenory turned a small local business into a multimillion-dollar criminal enterprise with direct ties to drug cartels based in Mexico.”

“Today's verdicts show that law and justice will eventually catch up, no matter how big the operation is or how much money a drug trafficker makes illegally,” he said.

The agent added: “This community and communities across the United States are safer with the Flenory brothers behind bars.”

Demetrius' release comes ahead of the fourth season of the 50 Cent show “BMF,” which documents the brother's criminal enterprises.

His son Demetrius Flenory Jr. plays his father on the Starz show

Terry was finally released from home confinement on May 5, 2020 after receiving compassionate assistance for his health condition amid the COVID pandemic.

Demetrius' release comes ahead of the fourth season of the 50 Cent show “BMF,” which documents the brother's criminal enterprises.

His own son plays him in the show, which has become one of Starz's biggest hits, attracting guest stars like Snoop Dog, Yung Miami and even Eminem.