Pretty Ricky’s Baby Blue Whoaaa Sentenced to Two Years In Prison Over PPP Loan Scam

Recently embarking on The Millennium Tour, the Pretty Ricky member also owes over $1 million in restitution.

Baby Blue Whoaaa, formerly known as Baby Blue from early-2000s South Florida group Pretty Ricky, is in hot water this week. According to XXL, the rapper was sentenced to 20 months in prison on December 20th for participating in a COVID-19 loan scam in 2020.

In October 2020, Blue (born Diamond Blue Smith) was arrested and accused of filing fake loan applications that were designated towards funding for small businesses that were struggling during the pandemic. Funds were allotted through the United States’ Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in which Blue received more than $24 million.

He used false documents to acquire a $426,717 PPP loan for his company Throwbackjersey.com LLC, with an additional loan that used falsified documents obtained for his Blue Star Records, LLC company amounting to $708,065. When allegedly making lavish purchases on a $96,000 Ferrari and more gifts using loan funds, Blue was seized and taken into custody.

Following his arrest, on October 6th, Baby Blue Whoaaa appeared the Northern District of Georgia where he faced charges of wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Love & Hip-Hop: Miami star also recruited accomplices to pull off the loan scam, in which eleven individuals were named in the case. No word on if the case will be chronicled in the next season of the hit VH1 series.

Previously claiming that he was facing life in prison for the loan scam in an Instagram comment, the sentencing follows The Millennium Tour 2021, where Pretty Ricky was an opening act. The group was also featured on the inaugural Millennium Tour, headlined by B2K in 2019.