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Buju Banton enters not guilty plea
Thursday, 07 January 2010
Buju Banton.Jamaican reggae singer Buju Banton will be held without bail on drug charges while his lawyer fights to remove a detainer placed on his client by immigration officials.
That means Buju, whose given name is Mark Myrie, will miss the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles later this month where his album "Rasta Got Soul" is nominated in the Best Reggae Album category.
Tampa Bay Online reports that Buju, 36, pleaded not guilty on Thursday afternoon to federal charges that he conspired to buy cocaine from an undercover law enforcement officer in Sarasota last month.
U.S. Magistrate Anthony Porcelli <span style="font-weight: bold">ordered the singer held without bail after defense attorney David Oscar Markus said he would not oppose the government's request that Banton be detained.</span>
Mr. Markus later explained that <span style="font-weight: bold">there was no sense in seeking bail when immigration authorities have prevented him from leaving the country. </span>
The singer is in the United States on an entertainer's visa.
His attorney pledged his client will fight the drug charges and will not enter into any plea deal with prosecutors.
The criminal case is set for a status conference in February and tentatively set for a March trial.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the artiste contacted a confidential informant about a possible cocaine purchase.
The next day, Buju and other men met with the informant at Sarasota's La Tropicana de Havana restaurant, where the DEA and local police had set up surveillance.
An affidavit claims the group later went to a warehouse to make the cocaine deal, where authorities had set up audio and video recording devices.
Thursday, 07 January 2010
Buju Banton.Jamaican reggae singer Buju Banton will be held without bail on drug charges while his lawyer fights to remove a detainer placed on his client by immigration officials.
That means Buju, whose given name is Mark Myrie, will miss the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles later this month where his album "Rasta Got Soul" is nominated in the Best Reggae Album category.
Tampa Bay Online reports that Buju, 36, pleaded not guilty on Thursday afternoon to federal charges that he conspired to buy cocaine from an undercover law enforcement officer in Sarasota last month.
U.S. Magistrate Anthony Porcelli <span style="font-weight: bold">ordered the singer held without bail after defense attorney David Oscar Markus said he would not oppose the government's request that Banton be detained.</span>
Mr. Markus later explained that <span style="font-weight: bold">there was no sense in seeking bail when immigration authorities have prevented him from leaving the country. </span>
The singer is in the United States on an entertainer's visa.
His attorney pledged his client will fight the drug charges and will not enter into any plea deal with prosecutors.
The criminal case is set for a status conference in February and tentatively set for a March trial.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the artiste contacted a confidential informant about a possible cocaine purchase.
The next day, Buju and other men met with the informant at Sarasota's La Tropicana de Havana restaurant, where the DEA and local police had set up surveillance.
An affidavit claims the group later went to a warehouse to make the cocaine deal, where authorities had set up audio and video recording devices.
sucks to be him. i9m sure theres some conspiracy going on here 
n the clout of the accused...
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