Court upholds Buju conviction

Jamaican reggae superstar Buju Banton today lost his appeal against the ten-year prison sentence he is now serving. The ruling was handed down today in the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. Today, the Appeals Court rejected all the claims in the Grammy-winning entertainer’s appeal and sided with prosecutors. The Appeals Court also agreed with the jury’s decision to find the entertainer guilty on the firearm charge. That charge was dismissed by the trial judge, after the jury delivered its verdict and prosecutors filed an appeal to have it re-instated. The Appeal Court said the trial judge should now decide whether Buju should be re-tried on the firearm charge or sentenced to the five years allowed under the sentencing guidelines. In its ruling today, the appeal court found that given Buju’s familiarity with the drug trade, the jury could have reasonably concluded that he knew that the use of a gun by one of his co-conspirators was a reasonably foreseeable action. The court also found that Buju demonstrated familiarity with the drug trade, and his behaviour during the offense was consistent with his described role of an investor who stays on the outside. The Appeal Court also rejected Buju’s claim that his conviction should be dismissed on the basis that he was entrapped by the government’s paid informer Alexander Johnson. The judges said Johnson only engaged Buju on the topic of the cocaine, after the Jamaican indicated his familiarity with drug dealing. (Jamaica Gleaner)