High-ranking Black Mafia Family member J-Bo” pleads guilty”

On Monday a man considered to be one of the Black Mafia Family crime ring’s top lieutenants pleaded guilty in federal court to cocaine and money-laundering charges. According to his plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit, Chad “J-Bo” Brown will spend between 15 and 20 years in prison.

Brown regularly appeared in promotional videos and in flashy nightclubs flanking alleged BMF leader Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory, who is believed to have run the Atlanta headquarters of a multistate, $270 million cocaine enterprise. Flenory, who was CEO of Atlanta-based record label and promotion company BMF Entertainment, has described J-Bo as the company’s chief operating officer.

BMF’s presence was huge in Atlanta, where the crew was known for throwing wild parties — and for being tied to violent acts that involved Young Jeezy, P. Diddy and Bobby Brown. The crew’s reign was the subject of Creative Loafing’s three-part series Hip-hop’s shadowy empire.