Saturday, October 16, 2010
It will cost Buju Banton a quarter of a million dollars if he wants out of jail before a new trial starts in December on cocaine-trafficking charges.
A judge in Florida set the reggae star's bail at $250,000 bail and ordered him to pay for 24-hour security to ensure he doesn't leave his home except on emergency visits to his doctor or lawyer.
With the limited freedom he would enjoy, one wonders if spending that huge sum for just a little sliver of freedom is worthwhile.
But that is a decision that Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, will have to make. It is part of the penalty for getting involved in an alleged scheme to buy large quantities of cocaine from an undercover police officer.
Earlier this month, a jury was deadlocked in Banton's trial. He was charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute coke and a firearm charge that could have put him behind bars for life.
The reggae crooner said he had no real intentions of either buying or selling cocaine and only told the undercover agent of the plan to impress him.
Banton said he believed the agent had good contacts in the music industry and that boasting of the drug plot would make Banton look like a big man to music executives.
Banton's dancehall stylings have won him Grammy nominations and fans across the world who appreciate his gritty, forceful style of singing.
Source: Black Voices