Born to Ernesto De Cotaou & Daphine Cephas in the Veterans Hospital of Harrisburg, Pennsilvania. His mother who was very close to one of her first-cousins (Doris Colburn-Berry), had placed him in Doris' care to be raised in Brooklyn, New York. From 6 months old, he spent the first 13 years of his life in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. He has attended P.S. 299, K-6 grades and was a very bright student. However, Michael was a class clown and brining home occassional ''F's'' and ''U's'', He went on to graduate and attended I.S. 388 for the 7th grade and was discharged and assigned to I.S. 291 for the 8th grade. Family problems had arisen and he was forced to move to the Bedford-Stuyversent section of Brooklyn to live with a family friend he had called his Aunt. Moving from a middle class family to the Brevoort Housing Projects wasn't something he was acustomed to, but this young man always managed to adapt to whatever invironment he was placed in. Michael had attended Boys & Girls High instead of Bushwick High as that became his zoned school. 9-10 grades was very difficult for him as the worry of what became of his family weighed down on him. Being held back in the 10th grade and discharged from High School at the start of the 11th. he applied for a seat at Boys High's Street Academy Program and successfully passed his GED test. Michael would not go into a college after struggling so bad in High School and he feared the Armed Services, so he did the next best thing... He landed a job at 17. Personnel Pool was a temporary help agency that he worked at from 17 to 19 doing everything from dishwashing to hard labor. At 19 Michael got mixed up with a couple guys from Manhattan and was arrested and charged with 3rd degree attepmted robbery. He was given 5 years of probation, but scarred with a felony on his rap-sheet. Being released, Michael hit the news papers and landed another job within a week, delivering packages for The Blue Print Company. After a year he was given a possition inside operating a Kodak 250 copier. In 90 days he made the Union and in another 90 days was promoted to be Superviser of the larger coping facility at the main office. Michael held nthis job from August/1987 to April/1994, at which time he packed and left for Wilmington, Delaware. On September 22, 1987 Michael met Kim and they dated for a year prior to being married on September 22, 1988. The marriage lasted 10 years and ended sighting un-reconcilable differences. 10 years after the seperation Michael and Kim filed for a divorce, but remain to be best friends to date. They have one child together, Michael Tony Cephas.