NEWS

VH1 Love & Hip Hop star Mendeecees Harris sentence won't be reduced

Gary Craig
@gcraig1
Mendeecees Harris

A  VH1 reality show star involved in cocaine and heroin trafficking between New York City and Rochester will not get his sentence reduced, a federal judge has ruled.

U.S. District Judge Frank Geraci Jr. earlier this month rebuffed the request from Mendeecees Harris to have his federal drug distribution sentence reduced by as much as a third, court records show.

VH1 celeb Mendeecees Harris sentenced in drug scheme

Harris stars on the popular VH1 reality show, Love & Hip Hop NY, though his presence on the show in the recent season was curtailed by his incarceration in federal prison. Harris, 38, married another of the show's stars, Yandy Smith, but, in true reality show fashion, the latest news is that the wedding was staged but not authentic and now the couple plans to truly wed.

The show focuses on individuals in the hip-hop industry while, again staying true to reality show essentials, provides plenty of "who loves whom" quandaries and the requisite shouting and back-stabbing.

In court papers, Dawn Florio, a New York City attorney representing Harris, contended that a change in federal sentencing guidelines allowed Geraci to reconsider the 97-month sentence he imposed on Harris in December 2015.

Yandy Smith, fiance of Mendeecees Harris, talks outside the Federal Building about Harris' release on bail from Yates County.  Harris is a star of the reality series Love and Hip Hop.

Harris, she argued, was a minor player in the drug-trafficking pipeline, and the sentencing change permitted his sentence to be reduced by as much as three years.

In her papers, she highlighted the community work performed by Harris, who pleaded guilty to the crime and forfeited $170,000 he earned from the show and public appearances while awaiting his sentencing.

As often as two to four times a week before his sentencing, Harris met with youth organizations, imploring the teenagers and kids to stay away from crime, Florio wrote.

"Youth sent about 100 letters to Harris, thanking him and relaying how inspirational his presentations were to them," Florio wrote, noting that Harris has a job once he leaves prison. He is expected to return to the show once free.

Prosecutors responded that, while Harris was not a kingpin in the network, his role could not be considered minimal. Harris and two others admitted to the drug trafficking from 2006 to 2008, and are now in prison. The leader, Ronald Walker, received a 10-year sentence and forfeited $1.5 million, a 2012 Land Rover, and properties in Queens and Georgia.

The court proceedings provided little insight into Harris' role in the drug network, but the argument over his sentence reduction offers some insight.

VH1 celeb Mendeecees Harris sentenced in drug scheme

Harris' "conduct was limited to collecting drugs from one party and handing them to another," Florio wrote. "There are no clear allegations that (Harris) acted as a broker, set any prices, nor was aware of the scope of the criminal enterprise."

In his March 8 ruling Judge Geraci differed on the significance of Harris' participation, noting that Harris admitted that the players in the network moved at least 40 kilograms of cocaine and a kilogram of heroin.

"A confidential source indicated that they received multiple kilograms of cocaine from (Harris) in New York City," Geraci wrote. "This individual stated that they received three to five kilograms of cocaine each month from (Harris) between 2005 and 2008. A second informant indicated that they received five kilograms of heroin from (Harris)."

Love & Hip Hop NY just completed its seventh season on VH1.

GCRAIG@Gannett.com