Reggae star Buju Banton was convicted on Tuesday in a Florida court on drug charges. He now faces up to 15 years in prison, stemming from three of four federal counts.
“Obviously, we are all upset and disappointed and emotional,” said Banton’s lawyer, David Markus, after the jury spent 11 hours deliberating the verdict. “The only person who seems to be okay is Buju. He told us he was happy that he fought, knowing he was innocent.”
In 2009, the singer was arrested during a Drug Enforcement Agency sting operation after police claimed he tried to buy cocaine from undercover officials. Banton went to trial for the matter but the case was declared a mistrial when the jury failed to reach a verdict.
“Our life and destiny are sometimes pre-destined and no matter where this journey takes me, remember I fought the good fight,” said Banton in a statement. “It was a great man that said ‘my head is bloody but still unbowed.’ I love you all, thank you for your support.”
Buju Banton’s contributions both politically and musically have been celebrated today in Jamaica, where radio stations continuously played his music. He also won a Grammy this past month for his album Before Dawn. Although he will likely make bail before his sentencing, it is not clear when the sentencing is scheduled.
[Feb. 22]
UPDATE: Buju Banton has been sentenced to 10 years in prison stemming from conspiracy charges to deal cocaine. He was found guilty on “conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense and using a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking offense.”
U.S. District Judge James S. Moody received dozens of notes pleading for leniency from his several children, an NBA player and actor Danny Glover, who branded Banton a “role model, philanthropist and spiritual leader in the community.”
Moody threw out a gun charge, which would have tacked on an additional five years to his sentence. He will serve five years of probation following his release.
who the fuck is buju banton
you joking right. Buju is a legend. what jayz big and pac are to rap he is to reggae. Go do some research! He is not on bob marleys level. But his international status is large.
no namme mon are you stupid dipshit
fuck, talk about over statin him?!?! ur sayin he’s more influential than Bob Marley, Black Uhuru, Burning Spear etc etc etc etc. stfu dude.
you dipshit you aint know who is buju?lard you young boy.
Just listen “Drive A” & tell if you like, if not youre a fuckin hoe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai7mzkZcRsw
fish, read! you moron.. he said IS NOT… Buju and Beres got status almost as high as the Marley family….
He is the Bob Marley for OUR generation.
who the fuck is you , what you done to inspire this world ,shut the fucking hole in your face
all y’all should stfu… why u raining them curses on this page?? i bet none of y’all would survive behind bars… RESPECT to this dude… like Bob Marley he talks real shit with them lyrics.. even more than weezy.
Who the fuck is “No Namme Mon”?
A 40 years old man, living with his mom.
buju i feel it 4 u man ,i cant even comprehend what u must be going thru but only god know what really happen , i wish u well may god bless your family , be save brother love u whit all my heart , god bless
buju time may seem ruff but never let dem see you down>>keep your head up.
hang in there BUJU…. SEE when you get out when your rocking the stage again.. keep writing those amazing lyrics,,,, jah will rule your destiny
Damn bredren!!! Hold Ya HEAD
you made “boom bye bye” and well…karma is a real bitch.
Fuck u 26….boom bye bye!
eyy yuh batty boy.Yuh condoning blad clat crap yuh ras clat shithole.
fag
so you are one of them go dowm batty boy ,we still dont like faggots
Fuck u 26….”boom bye bye” still apply….u aint gonna c Buju Fall!
CHRIS BROWN’S F.A.M.E ALBUM IS SET TO HIT STORES 3/22!!!!!HIS SINGLE “LOOK AT ME NOW†FEAT BUSTA RHYMES AND LIL WAYNE IS MAKING ALOT OF NOISE AND YOU CAN CHECK IT OUT HERE VIA FACEBOOK>>>>http://on.fb.me/gM8njs
Dam this kills me. BUJU is a reggae Legend, Leader and one of its most Prolific Voices. His case was definitely an example of Entrapment and should serve as a warning to other artist to not even Entertain these dudes working for the fed tryna get ppl locked. The Defense star witness is a former dealer who get all his bills houses and cars paid for the government so He can go around entrapping anybody they deem a target.
BUJU we praying for you. I think youll be back in 5yrs.
Hold Ya Head.
http://www.soundclick.com/showtimeny
Tell me why they Fighting Marijuana? So I dont Know/The Best From the West Tell them It cant Low – Go Slow (Too Bad Album)
Who Have the Money and Hide it from the Youth/ Who Have the Knowledge and Withold the Truth/Who Give them Gun and tell them to Shoot.. Who a Make the Youth..Time For Revolute/ – Who Have it (Too Bad)
I know songs like that are the real reason Babylon want you Behind Bars SeeN!
I got $13,000 for my STUDIO EQUIPMENT
I got a new HOUSE all because of
http://www.fastmoneyclick.com
FAM SERIOUSLY I made $7,432.00 in 10 days!
N%*99A U would be crazy not to try this
in 2011 the REAL HUSTLE is online
ENTER A DIMENSION BEYOND YOUR COMPREHENSION
http://www.youtube.com/user/305ilovemia#p/u/0/xP6_EKHd0ak
TOO HOT FOR TV OR THE RADIO
Buju Banton – Driver A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai7mzkZcRsw
Classic!
ENTER A DIMENSION BEYOND YOUR COMPREHENSION
http://www.youtube.com/user/305ilovemia#p/u/0/xP6_EKHd0ak
TOO HOT FOR TV OR THE RADIO
To those defending him:
WHY IS HE STILL DEALING DRUGS? HE’S SUCCESSFUL…..KARMA IS A BITCH…WITH HIS HOMOPHOBIC ASS.
Wow, so ur mad he doesn’t like gay people!? Give me a fuckin break!
Buju will be missed in the dancehall community keep your head up soldier
Oh shut the fuck up..He wanted to b a drug dealer and got fucked in the ass.Who gives a fuck about his music, he should rot in jail. How dare u say keep ur head up, he got what he deserved…And posting 3 comments at once with that song makes u look like an ass hole.
“look at me, Im on the phone in front of an escalade and I believe everything I read”…Faggot
Chorus
‘Til I’m laid to rest
Always be depressed
There’s no life in the West
i know the East is the best
All the propaganda they spread
Tongues will have to confess
I’m in bondage living is a mess
I’ve got to rise up alleviate the stress
No longer will I expose my weakness
He who seeks knowledge begins with humbleness
Work 7 to 7 but I’m still penniless
All the food upon my table Massa God bless
Holler for the needy and shelterless
Ethiopia awaits all prince and princess
Chorus
What coube so bad about the East
Everybody wants a piece
Africa for Africans
Marcus Mosiah speak
Unification outnumbers defeat
What a day when we walk down Redemption Street
Banner on heads bible inna we hands
One and all lets trod the promised land
Buju go down a Congo
Stopped in Shashamane Land
The city of Harare where Selassie com from
In Addis Ababa then Batswana
Left Kenya end up in Ghana
Oh what a beauty my eyesight behold
Only Ethiopia protect me from the cold
Chorus
Organize and centralize come as one
Our seeds shall be so many more than sand
Some new and replenish pure and clean heart
For too long we’ve been under this band
Some a save a bag a riches
Yet they die empty hand
Go on saying I’m stupid and laugh all you can
Easier for a caller to go through a needle eye
Than a rich man to enter a Zion
Take it from I man
So
Buju thank you
Words of wisdom for all you pussy holes
stfu 8 ball. your defending this dirt bag for selling drugs?
tell these batty holes what time it is
Ain’t nothing wrong with selling drugs. The Law doesn’t want you to do it, cause they don’t want people to be independently wealthy. Fuck the law. American people are out here suffering, while these billionaires skim millions off the top, and bilk people out of their life savings. All you pussy hole cop loving faggots need to kill yourselves. Word up. The world doesn’t need you, and will be a better place without you.
Hold your head, Buju Banton. Eight and a half will pass in the blinkin’ of eye…
Thankyou sweatness, were rising up…their wicked system is a falling trust!!!!!
The Great work he has done, lives on regardless of what happens!!!!!
ALL THESE RAEGGAE SINGERS GET FUCKED ON THEM DRUGS – BANTON WONT BE THE LAST – WHEN THESE GUYS GONA LEARN!!! DENNIS BROWN CRACK HEAD- GREGORY ISSACCS CRACK HEAD- BUJU FUCKED NOW EVEN THOUGH IT SMELLS DIRTY- REGGAE PREACH A GOOD MESSAGE SHAME THE GUYS PREACHING R ALL CRACK HEAD – SHAME
shut the fuck up you dont know what time it is ,aint no taking drugs like rappers
This pisses me off. Just don’t make a fucking statement rather than try to preach to me you motherfucker. Get a Grammy and 15 years for yayo in the same fucking year…almost the same month. That’s what greed will get your ass. Write a song about that. Hell…you got time, write two. Truth is, I might buy that shit…been bumping Buju since the early 90’s. I’m pissed.
dont believe something because you’ve read it ,because someone with authority says it ,
Buju made a mistake. He Does Not need your forgiveness, or pity. He will do his time and become stronger for this…just hope ur alive to hear him when he is ready.
ITS TRUE!!
hold ya head
Real Talk
HA HA HA. This loser deserves exactly what he is getting . I hope he dies in prison with a cock up his arse.
WTF?!?!!!! Buju is a legend you fkn idiot. I wish you were in my face right now.
Entrapement is the worst. It’s like that ish when the leave a car running with the door open, and then arrest someone for driving away in it…why are you CREATING crime and court cases and prison sentences? That person mave have never had any intention of doing so ever, but fell victim to the circumstance, and made a bad choice. But to throw the bait like that to incarcerate young minorities is racist and wrong. When have they EVER done that in an avg blue-collar white area or town? NEVER
Buju…one of my idols..an extremely humble, generous and conscious man, he will get out early and continue his legendary career!
hahaaa wait new world oder kick in full effect then you will remember this day when you laugh to see a man get locked up
as i read your comment it is clear most of the people in this world are idiots ,they have no clue what age they are living in,there is alot of innocent people who are in prison because the way how courts work ,the one with the most proof wins,i am not saying he is totaly not guilty,but he did not stand a chance in this colonial ,bucky marshall white world ,know that he is someone who the black mass look up to ,the fact is that black man has always been oppressed in this world by all nations ,im possitive buju doesnt own a coco field or a gun factory ,so he is not the cause of the problem ,he is what his environment and circumstances has made him.
yeah yall laughing ,some of you who are talking shit is taking drugs right as we speak, some of you who are talking ,selling drugs as we speak , some of you who are laughing is just straight up bad mind and envious ,yall act like you never fucked up , some of you men who are talking shit dont even take care of your kids, your on child support ,but wait just wait because if you dont have money like bill gates or oprah just know you will be going to jail in this new world order because if you aint rich your already on the list of useless eaters and you serve no purpose in society accoding to their rules, so today buju bonton ,tomarrow you !
Yeah…
Everyone who isn’t rich will be imprisoned.
Yeah…
Damn Buju, “Drive A” is one of my favorite song, but if you did it, you paid it.
^^ I still bump that Driver A and the OG video is on my youtube somewhere..
He’s talking about trees in that song though
Twisted shit… 10 years for drug charges, and dudes get less for killing people while drunk. smh…
DUDE KILLED 3-5 PPL IN A SWEATLODGE AND 15+OTHERS IN CRITICAL CONDITION AND HE GOT 12 YEARS.
12 FUCKING YEARS…
Common dude! Yes, considering what he was doing and how much he was charging, he should have had a doctor on staff or advising him, but at the end of the day, he was not trying to kill people. It was not murder. If you jump into your car right now to go to work and take out two kids on their bike playing, assuming you were not speeding, you won’t do any jail time.
“Hold a firm meditation”
why does anyone care if people do or sell drugs…
only lil bitches hate on people that sell drugs….
so thats like half the people in here
damn too many bitches
im out.
I guess you don’t understand the detrimental effects of mind altering drugs on families, cultures, and society as a whole.
Thanks for trying to make the world a better place.
Man to the stupid ass nigga above me,
the world is alredy fucked up and im talking about fucked up where im from there kids on the corner at age 12..12 nigga shits fucked up nowadays
thats why i say fuck it and try to move forward with my education and job and say fuck everone else
Stupid ass ignorant ass niggas no use trying to help someone that dosent want help(Drugie)why waste money,manpower, resources,hope on a junkie. a junkie will give everything for a hit of the pipe
its time people grow the fuck up and deal with whats going on and mind their own FUCKING buisness TY have a nice day
gun charges thrown away but 10 years from drugs? shows where your priorities are america… so glad i live in canada. max sentence up here is 25 years (for 1st degree murder)… drugs are a slap on the wrist and guns are couple years max.. you americans just don’t get it.
“conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine”
damn, he got a sentence for basically thinking about selling cocaine?
^^ And getting caught on video tasting the shit in a warehouse..
A message to all Bunju wanabes this guy raps what he does,so uve got smoke trees.Buchaman,redbanton and Toolman.
Well I’m just an old white woman, I know a lot and I don’t know nothing at all… but one thing is for sure no baby is born wanting to live a fucked up life of drugs, poverty, violence, or materialism for that matter – it is the world that destroys the dreams of the children, but it is also the world that we have to overcome. God, He is Love, and His Holy Spirit, She is Peace, Yeshua is His Son, and We are His Daughter.
buju banton got a raw deal,but that what happens when a famous african soldier comes to the lost world a.k.a america. respects mr.banton…from BLACK TREE..
i hope he has a nice pretty boyfriend while he is in there KARMA