'Jacob the Jeweler' Pleads Guilty

DETROIT (AP) — A celebrity jeweler who put diamonds on celebrities from Sir Elton John to Kanye West pleaded guilty Wednesday to falsifying records and giving false statements to investigators looking into a multistate drug ring.
Terms of the plea deal call for Jacob Arabov of New York to serve up to 46 months in prison and pay a $2 million penalty, U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy said in a news release. No sentencing date was immediately set by U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn.
In return for the guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop money laundering charges against the man known in the hip-hop world as "Jacob the Jeweler," said Arabov's attorney, Benjamin Brafman.
"I realize I have made a terrible mistake and I accept the consequences of my actions," Arabov said in a news release issued through Brafman.
Arabov, 42, was arrested in June 2006 at his Manhattan jewelry shop. Authorities accused him and others of conspiring to launder about $270 million in drug profits for the "Black Mafia Family," a ring that operated out of the Detroit area beginning in the early 1990s.
The 7-year investigation resulted in the indictments of Arabov and 41 other people, Murphy's office said. Twenty-eight have pleaded guilty, eight are scheduled for trial Nov. 19 and the whereabouts of six others are unknown. (more here)

Them BMF Boys Got Troubles Again!

16 indicted in alleged Black Mafia Family drug ring

ATLANTA -- Sixteen people have been indicted in an alleged drug ring run by the Black Mafia Family, which came to Atlanta several years ago seeking legitimacy by infiltrating the hip-hop industry here, federal authorities said Wednesday.
The indictment charges them with taking part in a nationwide cocaine distribution conspiracy that engaged in violence while moving thousands of pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $270 million.
"The government is one step closer to eradicating one of today's most violent and notorious drug trafficking organizations," said Rodney G. Benson, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement office in Atlanta. "The Black Mafia Family wreaked havoc from coast to coast."
Seven of the 16 defendants were arrested Wednesday. The names of seven of the remaining nine defendants remained under seal because they are still being sought by law enforcement, officials said.
Local law enforcement learned the organization existed after a 2003 double homicide in Club Chaos in Buckhead when an associate of hip-hop mogul Sean "P. Diddy" Coombs and another man were both shot after the club closed early one morning. More here