Buju’s Lawyers Asked For Shorter Sentence

Yesterday Buju Banton’s lawyers presented instance to the court asking to impose a prison term below the mandatory minimum sentence of 15  years at his sentencing hearing later this month.

Jamaican Grammy Winner Super Star Buju Banton is in jail awaiting final trial  day on june 23th 2011.

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 Jamaican reggae artist was convicted in February on charges of conspiracy to distribute five or more kg of cocaine, possession of a firearm in the furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and using the wires to facilitate a drug-trafficking offense.

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.

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

Banton’s first trial in September last year ended with a hung jury, resulting in the second trial in which he was convicted.

The artist was arrested at his South Florida home in December 2009.

Yesterday’s document also contained letters from actor, activist, and humanitarian Danny Glover, as well as from several of Banton’s 15 children, asking for the court’s mercy.

LISTEN TO BUJU BANTON “DESTINY”