Rapper charged with running cocaine for BMF

Add to the list of roughly 130 alleged Black Mafia Family affiliates facing federal charges in at least nine separate indictments the following name: Barima McKnight, aka the rapper “Bleu DaVinci.”

McKnight was among six defendants whose identities were revealed on Friday, after a U.S. District Court judge in Atlanta signed an order to fully unseal an indictment that had been filed in July]. The indictment charges a total of 16 defendants with conspiracy to distribute multiple kilos of cocaine.

McKnight, who took over the record label BMF Entertainment after alleged BMF co-leader Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory was indicted two years ago on cocaine conspiracy charges, was the sole artist signed to the Atlanta-based label. The feds allege that BMF Entertainment was in fact a front for the cocaine trade.

As a rapper, McKnight never saw the success of other artists who aligned themselves with BMF, including Young Jeezy and Fabolous. Neither Jeezy nor Fabolous was signed to BMF Entertainment. But both were early members of the BMF party entourage that was a huge presence in Atlanta clubs such as Compound and Vision, and both have written or contributed to tracks about the storied crew.

According to the indictment charging McKnight:

DEFENDANTS were members or associates of the criminal enterprise known as the Black Mafia Family (BMF). The cocaine possessed and distributed in this conspiracy came from the most senior members of BMF, who are not indicted herein. It was only by way of their membership in BMF or association therewith that DEFENDANTS were able to gain access to the cocaine that was distributed as part of this conspiracy.

McKnight has not been apprehended, nor have the five other defendants whose names were revealed last week: Terry “Taz” Biles, Vernon “Wu” Coleman, Michael “Freak” Green, Innocent “Fifty” Guerville, and Deron “D-Shock” Hall.

Demetrius Flenory, his brother and alleged co-leader Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, and as many as nine of their 40 co-defendants are scheduled for trial Nov. 5 in Detroit, where the alleged $270 million cocaine enterprise was birthed before establishing central hubs in L.A. and Atlanta. The Flenorys face a continuing criminal enterprise charge, which can carry a mandatory life sentence.