The dramatized stories of the Black Mafia Family have captivated audiences on BMF, but Tonesa Welch has a bone to pick. On the show, La La Anthony portrays Markisha, assumed to be based on Welch, but according to the hailed "First Lady of BMF," a plotline grossly misrepresented real-life events. She once dated Terry Flenory, one of the founders of Detroit's infamous BMF crime organization. In an Instagram post, she detailed Markisha being intimately involved with a 17-year-old high school student on the show.
"WTF who wrote this part of the Story," said Welch. "Terri 17 I’m 26 years my Husband a king pen but I’m having sex with a 17 year old who’s supposedly still in high school. So before Terri goes on the run he comes to my job, its close for the day we sneak in the janitors room and have Sex. I guess he’s to young to have an apartment he’s still in high school or lives with his parents. I guess they have Markisha looking like a pedophile."
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"If This was reverse and Markisha was 17 years old y’all be trying to put him in jail," Welch added. "I never kiss this man until he was i25 years old. This is crazy 🤦🏾🗣 This is what happens when you hire the wrong representative. Please no more DM’s don’t ask me why I can’t explain it. But half y’all believe this sick shtt. Markisha character is shown in bad likeness I don’t agree with the timeline or the character traits. This show pretends it’s not me but everybody in Detroit or half the country know it’s me. Who else work at the insurance company?"
Welch was featured on BET+'s American Gangster: Trap Queens to detail her story. She has advocated for prison reform and has used her experiences on the wrong side of the law to help others in her activism. In 2021, Welch sat down with Sheen Magazine to revisit that time in her life. She shared how her crimes impacted her loved ones.
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"Learning how much my lifestyle hurt and took away from my family was truly eye-opening," Welch admitted at the time. "Seeing my son and nephews go to prison was incredibly hurtful. I brought them into that lifestyle, and it was all they knew. Even though they don’t blame me, I truly believe that they would have had better choices if I had gone a different route."
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