‘My mistakes don’t define me’: Pretty Ricky singer speaks after COVID scam sentence
Pretty Ricky’s Baby Blue has had quite a year.
In April, the singer born Diamond Blue Smith was shot at Sparez bowling alley in Davie in an attempted robbery and ended up battling for his life in the ICU.
A few months later, in October, Smith was arrested over an alleged Payment Protection Program scheme. The Miramar resident was charged for his “alleged participation in a scheme to file fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $24 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act,” according to the Department of Justice complaint.
The “Love and Hip Hop: Miami” star is alleged to have received massive PPP loans for his two companies, Throwbackjersey.com LLC, and Blue Star Records LLC, using falsified documents.
Smith allegedly purchased a Ferrari for $96,000 and made other luxury purchases using PPP loan proceeds, official documents say.
The rapper pleaded guilty on Aug. 4 and was recently sentenced to 20 months in the alleged COVID relief scam. The music star was also ordered to pay $1,111,345 in restitution and $1,134,782 in forfeiture.
On Instagram, Smith apologized and tried to explain:
“We all make mistakes… I admit I made a mistake, I’ve learned from it the hard way and won’t make it again,” he wrote. “My mistakes don’t define me as a man and I will come out of this more than I was before.”
But on Tuesday, Ricky hinted to his 560,000 followers that he may have been the fall guy with an announcement about new music.
“Dropped this just to put y’all up on game ‘bout what really happened in my case!”
His new single’s name? “Scapegoat.”
This story was originally published December 28, 2021 at 11:51 AM.
