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Dat Franchize Boy Busted
06/15/2006 6:25 PM, E! Online
Josh Grossberg
In the chart-topping single "Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It," Dem
Franchize Boyz boast that they're "gonna rock wit it, gonna lean wit it
[and] smoke some green with it."
According to Altanta
cops, on of the rappers had plenty of green, too. Boyz member Maurice
"Parlae" Gleaton and seven others were busted this week after a police
raid on the group's recording studio turned up 11 pounds of pot,
along with two handguns and $160,000 in cash.
The
23-year-old hip-hopster and his cohorts were charged Wednesday with
trafficking marijuana after authorities seized surveillance video from
the studio that purportedly showed the suspects trying to flush the
stash down a toilet as police arrived.
Investigator
Natanya Albritton of the Atlanta Police Department told E! Online that
the vice squad moved in with a search warrant Tuesday after being tipped
off about drug activity going on at the location.
Officers found the drugs and cash after the toilet got clogged.
Among those busted in addition to Parlae was Anthony Blalock,
the 27-year-old CEO of Making Big Moves Entertainment, who was the
target of the warrant. He was charged with trafficking in marijuana as
well as illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Also
nabbed in the raid was Daniel Smith, 26, who was charged with illegal
possession of a firearm and Jody Mayfield, 45, who faces one count of
disorderly conduct.
Two children were also at the scene
who turned out to be Gleaton's younger siblings, and they were released
to a member of his family.
Ash Joshi, a high-powered
Atlanta defense attorney representing the Boyz rhymer, said his client
was simply at the "wrong place, wrong time."
"He arrived
there maybe half an hour before the police," Joshi told E! Online. "He
was with his 15-year-old sister and two-year-old brother and was there
because a couple of artists he was hoping to produce had...leased some
studio time.
"When the police arrived shortly thereafter,
a few of the other guys--not his guys--tried to throw marijuana away and
tossed some in the trashcan in the same room that he was in," the
attorney said.
Joshi noted that the rapper was not the
target of the search warrant--that dubious honor went to Blaylock, whose
bond was denied at Wednesday's arraignment.
The lawyer
expected that prosecutors will try to parlay a past indiscretion by
Parlae into pressing for some sort of jail sentence: The artist is still
on probation for--you guessed it--marijuana possession.
"He's on probation and I'm certain the government will attempt to revoke
some part of his probation for this arrest," said Joshi. "The case is
two years old and was only a small amount of marijuana...He accepted his
responsibility and he had already reported the day before his arrest."
Parlae's next hearing is scheduled for June 28.
Known for their brand of "snap" hip-hop, with its down-tempo beats,
snapping fingers and vocal chants, Dem Franchize Boys are considered a
successor to the ATL's Dirty South crunk stars like Bone Crusher and Lil
Jon & the East Side Boyz.
The Boyz''s latest album, On
Top of Our Game, featuring cameos by Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri, has
been certified gold and spawned the hits "I Think They Like Me," "She
Freaky as She Want to Be" and "Lean Wit, Rick Wit It," which has spent
the past 25 weeks on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks, where it peaked
at number one.
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