Pretty Ricky’s Baby Blue is a free man.
Tuesday the former Love and Hip Hop Miami star was released from Florida‘s FCI Coleman Low after serving a year behind bars for his involvement in a $24 million PPP scam.
While the 38-year-old was initially sentenced to 20 months in prison, he was granted early release under the First Step Act, which Donald Trump introduced in 2018. As part of the act, eligible inmates can participate in recidivism reduction programs and earn credits toward early release.
Baby Blue, whose real name is Diamond Blue Smith, was arrested in October 2020 and charged with wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. The feds accused him of using falsified documents to obtain a $426,717 loan under the Paycheck Protection Program for his company, Throwbackjersey.com LLC. The rapper also took out another loan of $708,065 under a different company, Blue Star Records LLC.
The “Grind With Me” artist then used the fraudulent money to fund his lavish lifestyle, which included the purchase of $96,000 Ferrari and using some proceeds at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Florida.
He was ordered to pay $1,111345.23 in restitution and $1,134,782 in forfeiture in addition to his term of imprisonment.
