BMF member guilty on one count

After a three-day trial that shed new light on the legendary excess of the Black Mafia Family, high-ranking BMF member Fleming “Ill” Daniels was convicted in Atlanta federal court today of one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

The jury, which deliberated for two days, could not reach a conclusion on Daniels’ second count, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. The jury announced its verdict at around 4 p.m.

The government’s case against Daniels relied heavily on a half-dozen witnesses who were indicted on BMF-related drug charges in other jurisdictions. The witnesses testified with the hope of receiving reduced sentences.

One of them, a lower-level BMF member named Ralph “Ralphie” Simms, implicated Atlanta rapper Jay “Young Jeezy” Jenkins in BMF’s $270 million cocaine ring. Jeezy has not been charged in the feds’ multi-state BMF investigation, which has netted nearly 150 defendants in seven states. Both the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta and Jeezy’s attorney in New York declined to comment on the allegation.

Daniels, who faces a minimum 20-year sentence on the federal conspiracy charge, is also under indictment in Fulton County Superior Court for the 2004 murder of Rashannibal “Prince” Drummond. Drummond was shot to death in the parking lot of Midtown’s now-defunct Velvet Room.