Reggae icon Buju Banton yesterday took the stand in a crucial moment in his trial.
Banton said he was “talking crap” during the conversation with Alexander Johnson, the prosecution’s main witness, on a flight they shared from Madrid to Miami. He said the incident has caused him and his family indescribable pain.
“I was just talking crap. I’m not a drug dealer,” Banton admitted. “I am nervous and scared and I have been waiting for 10 months…”
Under cross examination, Preston, who asked Banton if he had thanked Johnson for making him [Buju] himself again, Banton said, “I would not risk my career which I have been working to build for 20 years for five kilos of cocaine.”
Banton said he was thanking Johnson who he thought could hook him up with a record deal and not a cocaine deal, as his record deal with his former company Tommy Boy Records had expired in 2009.
