MissInfo.tv » Buju Banton Sentenced to 10 Years For Playing the Middle Man in Cocaine Deal

damn shame.
Buju Banton (real name: Mark Myrie) was sentenced to 10 years in a Federal prison today in Tampa, Florida, on charges of “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.”

The judge dismissed a gun charge that would have added another 5 years to the sentence, but still ignored pleas for leniency from some of some of his 15 children, Stephen Marley, NBA player Etan Thomas, and even Danny Glover, who vouched for Banton as a “role model, philanthropist and spiritual leader in the community.”

If you remember, he was found guilty of those charges just one week after winning a Grammy earlier this year….but the whole thing started back in 2009, when Buju sat next to a man named Alexander Johnson on a flight. Johnson, a career criminal turned paid informant, who hounded Buju for months to connect him with cocaine suppliers. During the trail, Buju insisted that he was just “fronting” to seem street-affiliated:
“You gave (the informant) every reason to believe you were a player in the cocaine game,” [prosecutors] said.
Banton shot back: “We were both trying to impress each other. I was just making things up. I was just talking crap. I talk too much.”

Ms. D Says:
June 23rd, 2011 at 11:52 am

Danny Glover vouched for him?? wow!

10yrs not much compared to how much they first mentioned. Plus he already served 2 of that 10 yrs so who knows…?

Hold yuh head Gargamel!

Runway Says:
June 23rd, 2011 at 12:09 pm

How do you go from a Grammy to running around like a cocaine cowboy in the 80’s lol

brucebaner1 Says:
June 23rd, 2011 at 1:24 pm

“We were both trying to impress each other. I was just making things up. I was just talking crap. I talk too much.”

And Rick Ross is walking around free how?

Generalnatty Says:
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:07 pm

NO EVIDENCE BUJU WAS A DRUG DEALER SAYS DEA AGENT:

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/DEA-agent-testifies-in-Buju-s-favour

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/A-good-day-for-Buju_8373371

GOVERNMENT WITNESS AGAINST BUJU BANTON HAS EARNED 3.3 MILLION DOLLARS AS A GOVERNMENT INFORMER AND 50K FOR THE FIRST BUJU TRIAL.

http://zuri1.com/2011/02/23/the-informant-alexander-johnson-in-the-buju-banton-case-has-made-3-3-million-as-a-snitch-in-the-last-14-years/

http://thisisbujubanton.wordpress.com/2010/03/06/shocking-details-about-government-snitch-in-banton-case-revealed/

GOVERNMENT IMFORMANT TESTIFIES HE NEVER DEALT DRUGS WITH BUJU

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Informant-said-he-never-dealt-drugs-with-Buju

“Prosecutors acknowledged that Banton did not put any money into the drug deal nor did he ever profit from it. Markus characterized his client as “a big talker” who admitted to trying to impress the confidential informant but wasn’t involved in any drug deal.

Much of the case hinged on meetings and phone calls that were video- and audiotaped by the informant, who was working with the Drug Enforcement Administration — and who made $50,000 in commission after the bust.

In one video, Banton could be seen tasting cocaine in a Sarasota warehouse on Dec. 8, 2009. But he was not present during the actual drug deal on Dec. 10 that led two others to be arrested. Those two men later pleaded guilty.

Banton testified that the informant badgered him after they met on a trans-Atlantic flight in July 2009 and insisted they meet to set up a cocaine purchase. He said he was so uninterested in the informant’s proposals that after they met twice, Banton didn’t return the man’s phone calls for months.”
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=137104320

To Recap, he wasn’t caught with drugs he didnt sell any drugs, he made a lot of boasts in phone conversations and they caught him tasting coke on tape, but the wiretap conversations show that he stopped speaking to the imformant months before the bust. which he wasnt present, there was no evidence he financed the deal or put any money in drugs whatsoever and prosecutors acknowledge that he did not fiance the deal.

So he got convicted of boasting and introducing to people to one another.

He was convicted on conspiracy to possess cocaine, not because he was a drug dealer, because the U.S Government says he isn’t.

Fucked up isnt it.