Jacob The Jeweler Gets 2 1/2 years

Jacob "The Jeweler" Arabov who has made custom jewelry for pretty much every major hip hop artist, Rudy Giuliani, and Bono has been sentenced to 30 months in Detroit today for lying to investigators about a multistate drug ring.


According to The Associated Press, Arabov was given seven months off his potential three-year-plus sentence for his extensive charity work. He was also ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and forfeit $2 million to the government.

He was originally arrested in June 2006 in his Upper East Side store for conspiring to launder about $270 million in drug profits for a Detroit-based drug ring called the Black Mafia Family. But the charges were later dropped as part of a plea deal.

Mr. Arabov told reporters: "I feel ashamed that I broke the laws of this country, a country that has been so good for me. I will carry this shame for the rest of my life."


He was among 40 people indicted in the scheme orchestrated by the Black Mafia Family, which ran drugs out of Detroit beginning in the 1990s.

Jacob The Jeweler Pleads Guilty

Jeweler to the stars Jacob Arabov pleaded guilty Wednesday to falsifying records and giving false statements to investigators looking into a multistate drug ring.

Terms of the plea deal call for Jacob Arabov of New York to serve up to 46 months in prison and pay a $2 million penalty, U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy said in a news release. No sentencing date was immediately set by U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn.

In return for the guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop money laundering charges against the man known in the hip-hop world as "Jacob the Jeweler," said Arabov's attorney, Benjamin Brafman.

Arabov, 41, known as "Jacob the Jeweler" was indicted in Detroit last summer for allegedly helping the "Black Mafia Family" and its principals, former Detroiters Demetrius and Terry Flenory, launder some $270 million in drug proceeds. Arabov pleaded not guilty to the charges.


His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said Arabov is a fundamentally honest citizen who used bad judgment in an attempt to conceal dealings with a small group of individuals. He said Arabov had accepted responsibility for his conduct and hopes the judge will consider his lifetime of business success and his charitable work in sentencing him.

"I have always been blessed with good fortune and loving friends and family," Arabov said in a statement issued by Brafman. "I realize I have made a terrible mistake and I am ready to accept the consequences of my actions… My desire is to do whatever I can to atone for my wrongdoings and move ahead with the great business I have built and the wonderful family that I love."