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Legal
Buju Banton jailed for ten years
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 24 June 2011
Reggae man Buju Banton has been jailed for ten years for his role in a large cocaine trafficking deal. As previously reported, Banton was arrested after seemingly trying to buy five kilos of cocaine in 2009. Prosecutors also told the court that the singer had told a police informant that he could set up a coke deal on several occasions. But Banton claimed he had been tricked by a cocaine smuggler, and that while he may have told the informant he could set up a drugs deal, such claims were actually idle boasts.
But back in February it took just two days for jurors to decide they didn’t buy Banton’s excuses, and to find him guilty of the drugs crime. A flurry of letters were sent to court talking up Banton’s good character and sound past record ahead of this week’s sentencing, but the judge handed down the mandatory ten year sentence for the drugs charge anyway. Though he did throw out a periphery gun charge which would have added an extra five years to the prison time. And with time already served and good behaviour, the reggae star could be out of jail in six years time.
Nevertheless, six years inside is a long time, and Banton admitted he ‘despaired’ at the sentence, though added he would get through the ordeal. In a statement read out by his lawyer David Markus, the reggae star told reporters and fans: “The days that lie ahead are filled with despair, but I have courage and grace and I’m hopeful, and that is sufficient to carry me through. The man is not dead. Don’t call him a ghost”.
Markus added that his client intended to appeal the ruling.
