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Jun 24, 2011 News
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge in Tampa, Florida, sentenced Grammy-winning reggae singer Buju Banton to 10 years in prison yesterday, the lowest sentence legally allowed for his role in a large cocaine trafficking deal in 2009.
The 38-year-old Jamaican recording artist got a break when U.S. District Judge James S. Moody threw out a gun conviction, which would have added another five years to the minimum sentence. Banton’s attorney, David Markus, said with time already served and good behaviour, he could be out in six years.
In a statement he wrote after the sentencing, Banton — whose given name is Mark Myrie — thanked family, fans and supporters from around the world who flooded the court file with letters of support.
“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,” he said in the statement, which was read by Markus. “The man is not dead. Don’t call him a ghost.”
Prosecutors acknowledged that Banton did not put any money into the drug deal nor did he ever profit from it. Markus characterized his client as “a big talker” who admitted to trying to impress the confidential informant but wasn’t involved in any drug deal. Much of the case hinged on meetings and phone calls that were video and audio-taped by the informant, who was working with the Drug Enforcement Administration — and who made $50,000 in commission after the bust.
Markus said he plans to appeal.
“Among the dozens of letters of support in the court file were those from several of Banton’s 15 children wrote, a Jamaican government official, an NBA player, other reggae artists and actor Danny Glover, who called Banton a “role model, philanthropist and spiritual leader in the community.”
Shortly before his conviction in February, he won a Grammy for best reggae album for his work entitled “Before the Dawn.”
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