Brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory were sentenced yesterday (September 12) to 30 years in prison, for running the cocaine organization known as The Black Mafia Family.

Demetrius and Terry were apprehended in 2005 and indicted under the CCE (Continuing Criminal Enterprise) law, which like RICO charges carry life sentences.

Under the federal prison system, there is no parole option.

Seeking to avoid spending the rest of their natural lives in prison, the brothers pleaded guilty in November 2007 to the CCE charges and laundering drug money in hopes of serving the minimum 20 year sentence.

However, evidence presented by prosecutors resulted in 30 year sentences for both men. BMF was founded by the brothers in Detroit during the late 1980s.

After quickly securing valuable contacts with international coke suppliers, the organization grew to a nationwide criminal conspiracy within a few years.

The group began to draw unwanted attention from federal agents in 2003 once they established a high-profile operation in Atlanta, where they erected billboards, held lavish parties, created DVDs, and boasted of their connections with rappers Young Jeezy and Fabolous.

Also notable in the organization’s downfall was Meech’s involvement in a brazen 2003 shootout in the Buckhead nightclub section of Atlanta that left two men dead, including Sean “Diddy” Combs’ bodyguard Anthony “Wolf” Jones.

In 2005, agents raided several key BMF operations in Georgia, Michigan, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, and California.

To date, those raids have resulted in over 150 indictments of BMF members or associates, effectively dismantling the drug empire.

According to authorities, these convictions of BMF’s top members end a 15 year investigation into the Black Mafia Family’s criminal enterprise.

At their peak, Demetrius (age 40) and Terry (age 38) Flenory are estimated to have controlled a cocaine empire worth $270 million.