Grammy winning reggae star Buju Banton may serve only 6 of the 10 years he was sentenced for, according to his attorney David Markus.
In a press conference on Thursday (June 23), Markus told reporters that Banton will be credited with the 18 months he spent incarcerated in the Pinellas County Jail in Tampa, Florida.
“He will get credit for all the time he was in, plus good time credit. So he’s got six years remaining on his sentence. Six years is too much time, but it’s much better than the 15 years he was looking at going in this morning,” Markus said.
Markus also indicated that he will be moving speedily to secure the artiste’s release in an appellate court in Georgia. If successful, the artiste could be out in less than the six years projected by Markus.
“We are hopeful, we are still optimistic, we are very thankful that the judge did that today and now we will appeal to an appellate court in Atlanta, Georgia,” Markus said. “Three judges will hear our case on the 10-year drug count that is left and we will be arguing that the evidence was insufficient on the drug count and that there was entrapment as a matter of law because of that scoundrel Alex Johnson. Mark Myrie is my brother, and I am going to keep fighting until they tell me to stop fighting.”
Buju Banton was sentence on Thursday (June 23) to 10 years in a Federal prison in Miami, Florida. He was convicted on three drug and gun charges in February.
