Florida
(BNO):
Reggae
star
Buju
Banton
was
found
guilty
of
cocaine
conspiracy
charges
on
Tuesday,
just
over
a
week
after
winning
a
Grammy
Award.
He
could
face
up
to
20
years
in
prison.
Banton,
37,
born
as
Mark
Anthony
Myrie
in
Kingston,
Jamaica,
was
arrested
in
Miami,
Florida
in
December
2009
for
conspiracy
to
distribute
and
posses
more
than
five
kilograms
of
cocaine,
as
well
as
possession
of
a
firearm
during
a
drug-trafficking
crime,
among
other
charges.
However,
a
mistrial
was
declared
9
months
later
and
he
went
on
retrial
earlier
this
month.
A
crucial
development
in
the
retrial
was
that
one
of
his
alleged
associates,
James
Mack,
invoked
his
Fifth
Amendment
rights,
refusing
to
testify.
Mack
had
initially
testified
that
he
had
never
spoken
to
Banton
and
that
the
gun
and
cash
discovered
in
the
vehicle
during
their
arrest
did
not
belong
to
the
reggae
singer.
Furthermore,
a
video
exists
in
which
Banton
is
shown
testing
out
cocaine
with
his
finger
at
a
U.S.
warehouse
in
front
of
an
undercover
police
officer.
The
charges
against
Banton
explain
that
he,
along
with
two
associates,
one
of
them
being
Mack
and
the
other
Ian
Thomas,
conspired
to
buy
a
large
amount
of
cocaine.
On
Tuesday,
Banton
was
found
guilty
by
a
12-member
panel
of
jurors
on
charges
of
conspiracy
to
possess
with
intent
to
distribute
five
or
more
kilograms
of
cocaine,
attempted
possession
with
the
intent
to
distribute
cocaine,
and
using
the
wires
to
facilitate
a
drug-trafficking
offence.
He
was
found
not
guilty
of
possession
of
a
firearm
in
furtherance
of
a
drug-trafficking
offence.
His
bail
was
revoked
after
the
guilty
verdict
was
announced
and
Banton
will
now
awaiting
sentencing,
which
could
send
him
to
jail
for
up
to
20
years.
Earlier
this
month,
Banton
won
the
Grammy
Award
for
Best
Reggae
Album
category.
"It
feels
good," Banton's
management
said
on
his
behalf.
"I
have
been
nominated
four
times
before
although
I
never
won.
To
me
it
means
a
lot
because
it
shows
that
my
music
has
transcended
a
lot
of
borders
and
people
are
now
paying
attention
to
what
I'm
saying
in-depth."