Pretty Ricky’s Baby Blue Sentenced to 20 Months in Prison
Baby Blue of the famed R&B group, Pretty Ricky, has been sentenced to almost two years in prison on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud after the singer was accused of filing false loan applications for financial assistance as part of America’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provided through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
According to multiple outlets, the singer, whose real name is Diamond Blue Smith, was handed a 20-month sentence that reported that the South Florida artist falsified paperwork to obtain PPP loans totaling roughly $24 million.
The 36-year-old admitted that he lied on the application to gain a loan worth $426,717. When that was processed, he later secured another loan for $708,065 using the same method. The “Grind With Me” artist claimed the funds were for his companies, Throwbackjersey.com LLC and Blue Star Records LLC.
Blue reportedly used the money for gambling pleasures at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in South Florida.
The Miami native has been ordered to surrender “at the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons or to the United States Marshal for this district… in the Southern District of Florida or a facility nearest Atlanta, Georgia… before 2 p.m. on Feb. 7, 2022,” Baller Alert reported.
He must also pay $1,111,345.23 in restitution and $1,134,782 in forfeiture in addition to a $100 assessment fee.
