July 26, 2020 – A federal judge in Detroit rejected Black Mafia Family soldier Paul (P.J.) Buford’s compassionate release motion last week, undeterred by the fact that the 50-year old former head of security for both BMF and the then-fledgling rap label, Bad Boy Records, battled the Coronavirus and won. U.S. District Court Judge David Lawson denied Buford’s motion in a July 17 ruling. Lawson is currently mulling a compassionate release for BMF founder Demetrius (Big Meech) Flenory. He sprung Big Meech’s baby brother and BMF co-boss, Terry (Southwest T) Flenory back in May on a compassionate release order in lieu of the COVID-19 pandemic, letting Southwest T go free six years early to home confinement at his mother’s house in Ecorse, Michigan. Without judicial intervention, Big Meech Flenory won’t be eligible for parole until 2032. As of right now, P.J. Buford’s scheduled out-date is in 2025. Buford is serving his time in a federal correctional institute in California. According to DEA records, Buford was one of the Flenory brothers top enforcers from early on in their rise to meteoric heights in the dope game all the way until the end when BMF was crushed by the historic Operation Motor City Mafia bust in 2005. The Flenorys founded BMF in Detroit in 1990 and quickly grew the organization to the point where they had franchises spread across the country and were making hundreds of millions of dollars profiting from wholesale cocaine trafficking. Big Meech moved to Atlanta. Southwest T took off to Los Angeles with Buford. Per court filings, Buford was Terry Flenory’s bodyguard and head-of-security for BMF affairs on the west coast. More than one DEA informant alleges the Flenorys provided hip-hop mogul Sean (Puff Daddy) Combs the money to start Bad Boys Records in 1993. Bad Boy Records, featuring a star-studded roster of rap powerhouses like Notorious B.I.G., Mase, Lil’ Kim and Jadakiss, proved to be the bedrock of Puff Daddy’s music and fashion empire. Buford soon became Combs’ personal bodyguard and the iconic New York label’s security chief. Combs’ first cousin, Darryl (Poppa D) Taylor, was a BMF soldier as well. Buford and Taylor were both nailed in the Operation Motor City Mafia case and Buford went on the run for four years making his way on to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List. He was apprehended during a routine traffic stop in 2009 in Mississippi. Buford’s rap sheet includes convictions for of robbery, auto theft, domestic violence, receiving stolen property and a pair of concealed weapon offenses. He tested positive for COVID-19 in May, but is now virus free. The story of the Flenorys and BMF is being turned into content for cable television in a highly-anticipated upcoming scripted series produced by rapper 50 Cent at the Starz network. 50 Cent sent Southwest T a Rolls Royce as a welcome home present last month.
