REGGAE artiste Buju Banton will serve his ten year prison sentence at the Limestone County Correctional Institution in Groesbeck, Texas. Banton was moved from a holding facility in the state of Oklahama by air to the facility on Friday.
He spent more than a month at the Federal Transfer Center (FTC) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma after being moved from the Pinellas County Jail in Tampa, Florida.
Banton, whose inmate number is 86700-004, is set to be released on February 1, 2019.
Register as Mark Anthony Myrie, Banton was found guilty of drug related charges and sentenced to 10 years in a Tampa, Florida court in February. A first trial ended in a mistrial after a panel of jurors could not unanimously decide on his guilt or innocence.
He has maintained his innocence and claims he was entrapped by the United States Government.
Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Buju-moved-to-Texas#ixzz1YtlN8eek
Sep 24, 2011
Sep 20, 2011
Buju Banton’s release date set for February 2019
Buju Banton will have to wait until the final year of this decade to become a free man once more after the United States Bureau of prisons confirmed that his official release date has been set for February 2019.
The official release date quells rumors that have swirled that Buju would originally serve 6 years; counting time already served & good behavior. However, the Bureau’s official release date set for February 2019 includes the time the prominent Reggae entertainer served in prison prior to & between his two trials within the last year.
According to Professor & highly regarded attorney-at-law, David Rowe, explained that Buju Banton will also get credit for 16% of “federal gain time,” that is time that he serves whilst not violating federal rules behind bars. Should he violate the rules, Buju’s sentence may be extended.
Buju Banton was convicted on three drug related charges this past February as a result of a December 2009 incident in which he allegedly conspired to organize a drug deal within a police controlled warehouse. Banton received a ten year sentence for the incident. However, his lawyer, David Markus plans to appeal that ruling in a Georgia courtroom in the near future.
Currently, Buju has yet to officially serve his time; remains listed in transit as he’s expected to be sent to a federal prison in Mississippi.
By Jodee Brown, Jamaican Pop Culture Examiner
Sep 8, 2011
Buju yet to start serving prison sentence; remains in transit
Embattled Reggae superstar, Mark Myrie, more popularly known as Buju Banton, has still yet to officially serve his prison sentence as there remains doubt as to where he’ll actually serve his time.
Banton was due to be housed at a holding facility in Oklahoma but the official website for the Federal Bureau of Prisons has him listed as “in transit,” despite insisting they have him in their custody. According to Buju’s lawyer, David Markus, Buju was scheduled to serve his ten year sentence at a prison facility in Mississippi but now will be transferred to a facility in Texas. A source close to the situation told the Jamaica Observer that Buju is being transferred to the medium security Texas facility given that a co-defendant in the case is already serving his time at the Mississippi prison.
Meanwhile, Markus has once again indicated that he will appeal Buju’s ten year sentence but are still waiting from information relating to the “Optimistic Soul” singer’s trial in February. "We are still waiting on the transcripts from the trial, so the appeal has not been filed yet. It will most likely be filed around Thanksgiving,” Markus told the Observer. Despite the cloud surrounding the whereabouts of Buju & his struggles behind bars, Markus intimated that Banton remains upbeat & hopeful that the appeal would be successful. "Buju would like his friends, family, and fans to know that he is hanging in there and waiting to be transferred. We are still fighting on appeal and are hoping for better days ahead," Markus stated.
Source: http://www.examiner.com/jamaican-pop-culture-in-national/buju-yet-to-start-serving-prison-sentence-remains-transit
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)