Video After The Jump
Mendeecees Harris was sentenced to eight years in a federal penitentiary on Tuesday, December 1, for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy that shipped large amounts of heroin and cocaine from downstate New York to Rochester, from 2005 until August 2012.
Harris pleaded guilty in April.
He could have been sentenced to as much as 20 years if he had chosen to go to trial and gotten convicted. Harris will get credit for 15 months already served. The Democrat and Chronicle reports that with good behavior and changes to drug sentencing guidelines he could be a free man in five or six years.
U.S. District Judge Frank Geraci Jr. said that Harris, his brother and one other man shipped two to five kilograms of cocaine monthly, plus up to seven kilograms of heroin.
Authorities brought an end to the drug ring when they raided two New York City homes in August 2012. $615,000 in cash was found in the homes. Another $911,000 was found in safety deposit boxes connected to the drug ring, according to the Democrat and Chronicle.
The 36-year old star of Love and Hip Hop: New York issued a statement via his Instagram account after sentencing.
"I want you all to understand something. I completely accept responsibility for all that is going on," he wrote. "My transition to be a better person a productive person started well before this case. However in my past I made some bad decisions. Young men let my life be an example to you now before it's too late. Better who you are now in your children's lives and in society so you can change the path of your fate. Lack of opportunities, a fatherless home, the unforgiven neighborhood and circumstances you grew up in can no longer be your excuse. Trust me I tried. And it doesn't make the pain your family feels any different. Young man educate your self and break the cycle. Don't become a number on the DOA (dead on arrival) list or on the incarceration list. To my wife and children you are all strong and well prepared for this. This is just another brick laid down towards our house of happily ever after , walk with your head held high knowing I would never past the buck and put another family through what we have endured. Continue to walk in faith and love as you've done so well. To my peoples thank you for all the encouragement and support please continue to encourage my family. Thank you again all."
Harris' wife, Yandy Smith, was in court with the couple's 10-month old baby. While understandably upset that her husband would be in prison for so long, she said the sentencing "brought closure."
"Now we have a definitive number (with the sentence) and we can move forward," she said outside of a Federal Building in Rochester. "I know there is an end."
Harris has already paid the federal government $170,000 of his earnings from LHH and public appearances, as part of an agreement.
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