Page 29 - Florida Sentinel 2-26-21

National
Black Mafia Family Leader 'Big Meech' Loses Latest Bid To Leave Prison
Malcolm X's Family
A federal appeals panel Thursday rejected the latest at- tempt from convicted Black Mafia Family cocaine kingpin Demetrius "Big Meech" Flenory to leave federal prison 10 years early amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
U. S. District Judge David Lawson did not misapply the law or rely on erroneous facts in refusing last year to grant compassionate release to Flenory during the pandemic, wrote the panel of three judges from the 6th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Flenory, 52, has drawn sup- port from celebrities, politi- cians and the broader public while serving a 30-year sen- tence for running one of the largest drug trafficking and money laundering rings in De- troit history. But federal prose- cutors say he remains a danger to the community and does not suffer from any COVID-19 risk factors.
“With great respect to these capable jurists who I admire, this opinion completely missed the mark," Flenory's lawyer, Wade Fink, wrote in a text message to The Detroit News. "We pleaded with the court to listen to the medical experts
ring operated in cities in 11 states, including Detroit, At- lanta, Miami, St. Louis, Los Angeles and Birmingham, Ala- bama.
The Atlanta hub alone dis- tributed 2,500 kilos each month.
Terry Flenory was re- leased on home confinement last year as part of a broader effort by officials to stem the spread of COVID-19 that, ac- cording to federal prison data, has killed at least 224 inmates and staff, and infected almost 53,000.
U. S. Drug Enforcement Ad- ministration agents toppled the cocaine empire in 2005 by arresting the brothers along with more than 100 co-con- spirators. Investigators seized $21 million worth of assets, in- cluding cash; jewelry; 13 homes in Metro Detroit, Geor- gia and Los Angeles; and three dozen vehicles, including a Lincoln limousine.
Demetrius Flenory laun- dered money through his rap label and promotions business, BMF Entertainment, and co- owned JUICE Magazine. BMF Entertainment takes credit for helping launch the career of the rapper Jeezy.
And Founders Barriers
FBI, Police Role In His Death
DEMETRIUS “BIG MEECH” FLENORY
who testified that my client is in serious danger of dying from COVID-19. But the experts were ignored again. And I at- tribute much of that to the shameful behavior of certain prosecutors in this case, who have made my client into a box office-type monster.”
The native of southwest De- troit headed a national drug ring with brother Terry Flenory that reaped $270 million in profits, employed more than 500 people and dis- tributed thousands of kilo- grams of cocaine. The drug
NEW YORK - Members of Malcolm X’s family have made public what they described as a letter written by a deceased po- lice officer stating that the New York Police Department and FBI were behind the 1965 killing of the famed Black activist and civil rights advocate.
Malcolm X was a powerful orator who rose to prominence as the national spokesman of the Nation of Islam, an African- American Muslim group that es- poused Black separatism. He spent more than a decade with the group before becoming disil- lusioned and publicly breaking with it in 1964. He moderated some of his earlier views on the benefits of racial separation.
He was killed at New York’s Audubon Ballroom while preparing to deliver a speech. Three members of the Nation of Islam were convicted in the shooting.
The letter released at a news conference on Saturday was at- tributed to a former undercover NYPD officer named Raymond Wood. His cousin Reggie Wood joined some of Malcolm X’s daughters at the news con- ference at the site where the Audubon Ballroom once stood to make the letter public.
Raymond Wood’s letter stated that he had been pres- sured by his NYPD supervisors to lure two members of Mal-
MALCOLM X
colm X’s security detail into committing crimes that resulted in their arrest just days before the fatal shooting. Those arrests kept the two men from manag- ing door security at the ballroom and was part of conspiracy be- tween the NYPD and FBI to have Malcolm killed, according to the letter.
“Under the direction of my handlers, I was told to encourage leaders and members of the civil rights groups to commit felo- nious acts,” Wood’s letter stated.
Some historians and scholars have contended that the wrong men were convicted. The office of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance last year said it would review the convictions in the case.
Releases Letter Alleging
Black-Owned Beauty Brands Breaking Billion-Dollar
Mahisha Dellinger was feeling disenfranchised about her experience as a marketing manager in corporate America when she decided to risk her personal savings to become an entrepreneur. She started her hair care line Curls in 2002 after struggling to find natural options on the shelves. Dellinger also struggled to find financing. She ended up starting Curls with $30,000 in personal savings.
“Despite having great per- sonal credit, I couldn’t get a small business loan to save my life,” she said. “That’s a chal- lenge that women of color, people of color still experience today.”
Black entrepreneurs start with, on average, $35,000 in capital compared to $107,000 for their white counterparts, according to a recent McKin- sey report. Lack of access to
MAHISHA DELLINGER
capital also weighs on Black entrepreneurs in the long run. The State of Black Entrepre- neurship in America report from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in 2019 found that Black entrepre- neurs are almost three times more likely to have their prof- its negatively impacted due to a lack of access to capital.
But Dellinger succeeded in spite of the challenges. The Curls brand can now be found
on store shelves across the country including Walmart, Target, CVS and Kroger, as well as on Amazon, and al- though Dellinger wouldn’t disclose sales figures, she said Curls has seen growth every year.
“I found myself desperate to take back control,” says Dellinger. “Becoming an en- trepreneur and owning my destiny was my opportunity to change that narrative.”
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