Bujus lawyers argue for reduced sentence

June 2011.

JAMAICAN Grammy Award-winning reggae artiste Buju Banton wants the court to impose a prison term below the mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years at his sentencing hearing later this month.

Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23 in the Sam M Gibbons Federal Court in Tampa, Florida, United States. The artiste was convicted in February on charges of conspiracy to distribute five or more kilogrammes of cocaine, possession of a firearm in the furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and using the wires to facilitate a drug-trafficking offence.

The documents asking for the reduced sentence were filed yesterday by his legal team led by attorney Oscar David Markus.

The 10-year minimum mandatory sentence for the drug count and the five-year minimum mandatory consecutive sentence for the gun count are unconstitutional in this case because it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment and also because it constitutes too severe a penalty for proceeding to trial, the lawyers noted.

The lawyers also stated that the court is well aware that, according to United States v Booker, a sentence calculated pursuant to the United States Sentencing Guidelines is no longer mandatory. The lawyers also pointed out that Bantons limited role in the drug offence entitles him to a reduction in sentence, while citing the artistes good character and clean record as it relates to the offence for which he was convicted.

Throughout both trials, it was clear that the significant players in the December 10, 2009 drug transaction were Isaac Ike Camon, a major drug dealer in Georgia, as the buyer; and Alex Johnson as the seller. Not Mark Myrie, said the lawyers.

Ian Thomas, a friend of Bantons who was instrumental in the drug transaction, was sentenced in May to 51 months imprisonment after pleading guilty and assisting the prosecution.

Bantons first trial in September last year ended with a hung jury, resulting in the second trial in which he was convicted. The artiste was arrested at his south Florida home in December 2009.

Yesterdays document also contained letters from actor, activist, and humanitarian Danny Glover, as well as from several of Bantons 15 children, asking for the courts leniency.

Bantons pending motion seeking acquittal and for a new trial will also be heard on June 23.