Incacerated reggae star Buju Banton’s was dealt a major blow yesterday when the United States government dismissed his appeal.
According to reports by the Associated Press, the US Government said there was sufficient evidence to support his conviction in June of last year of three counts of drug trafficking and conspiracy charges.
The AP reported that Federal prosecutors filed their response last Friday in Atlanta’s federal appeals court, where Buju’s lawyers had filed an appeal in December.
In their legal document, prosecutors noted that “Banton’s words and actions, in recorded conversations and a videotaped meeting in a Sarasota, Florida, warehouse where Banton tasted some cocaine, revealed the singer ‘eagerly brokered’ a drug deal between a friend and undercover government agents.
Buju Banton lawyers led by David Oscar Markus file an appeal in a Georgia appeal court last year claiming that the US government acted illegally by failing to bring Buju to trial before 70 days. This, they said, is a violation of the US constitution’s Sixth Amendment.
But the Federal government dismissed the appeal, saying prosecutors brought a legitimate case against the reggae star.
Banton’s, whose real name is Mark Myrie, was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison in a federal court in Tampa, Florida.
The Grammy winning singer is serving his term at the Federal Correctional Institute in Miami. He maybe eligible for parole in six years.
Never give up the fight, you WILL be free soon with Gods help. Trust me on dat.
Buju hold yo head up high.
I was really hoping , life —