Buju Banton

Buju Banton: Judge Orders Hearing to Probe Possible Juror Misconduct

Since his arrest on dubious drug charges back in 2009, reggae superstar Buju Banton has been caught up in a rolling legal circus. His first federal trial closed with hung jury. A second ended with a guilty verdict and a ten-year sentence; the follow-up appeals go-around might land the defendant an a ... More >>

Buju Banton Issues Statement After Judge Delays Resentencing

A set of motions filed Monday night delayed the resentencing of reggae singer Buju Banton on a federal gun charge.One motion again asked for the judge to reconsider resentencing Buju, while the other requested an entirely new trial on all charges based on New Times reporting that indicates a juror m ... More >>

Buju Banton's Attorney Asks Judge to Reconsider Original Sentence

Less than a week before Buju Banton walks into a Tampa courtroom for re-sentencing on a gun charge, the reggae singer's attorney has asked the judge to reconsider the ten year sentence that he's currently serving on two drug charges.It's the latest development in a drawn out and complex legal battle ... More >>

Mistrial Coming for Buju: Did a Juror Violate Court Orders?

Buju Banton: Five More Years in Jail?

Buju Banton Juror May Have Violated Court Orders: Grounds for a Mistrial?

Terri Wright, a juror on Buju Banton's federal drug and gun trial, says she's passionate about law. Wright, who works in the insurance industry and lives in Tampa, jokes that she would be a professional juror if she could. But did her passion compromise the outcome of the reggae singe ... More >>

Another Juror Says Buju Banton Is Not Guilty of Gun Charge

Terri Wright has been called to serve jury duty seven times. But none of the cases compares to the federal drug and gun trial of reggae singer Buju Banton. That one "took the cake," as she puts it. She still talks to coworkers about the murky back story of the federal snitch, Alex Johnson, and says ... More >>

Buju Banton Hires Chokwe Lumumba as New Attorney

Incarcerated reggae star Buju Banton has switched attorneys and hired Chokwe Lumumba to continue his fight against federal drug and gun charges. A Tampa jury found Buju guilty last year of two drug-related charges and a gun charge. The trial judge, however, tossed the gun charge and sentenced t ... More >>

Buju Banton's Attorney Asks Judge To Reconsider Denying New Trial

Updated at 3:10 p.m.: Judge James Moody has denied the request detailed below. Buju Banton's legal team on Thursday filed a motion requesting that Judge James Moody reconsiders his recent decision to deny the reggae star a new trial on a gun charge. It's the latest development in a complicated& ... More >>

Judge Denies Buju Banton's Request for New Trial

Federal Judge James Moody on Tuesday denied Buju Banton's request for a new trial. In his decision, the judge wrote that there is no need for a new trial in light of an Atlanta appeals court's ruling that there was sufficient evidence to convict the reggae star on a gun charge.Under the new ruling, ... More >>

Buju Banton's Legal Team Asks For A New Trial

See also "Reggae Great Buju Banton is Locked Up On Drug Charges. Was He Entrapped?" and "Buju Banton's Legal Team Blasts Feds"Buju Banton's attorney on Tuesday filed a motion with the Middle District of Florida requesting that the incarcerated reggae star be granted a new trial.The filing follows a ... More >>

Buju Banton's Appeal Struck Down

A panel of judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Thursday shot down Grammy-winning reggae artist Buju Banton's appeal on federal drug charges. The judges also reversed the lower court's decision to throw out a gun charge. Now the same judge who decided there wasn't enough  ... More >>

DOJ Continues to Press for Gun Charge Against Buju Banton

​The Department of Justice on Friday filed its latest -- and most likely last -- argument as to why a Tampa judge was wrong to throw out gun charges in the case of Buju Banton, an iconic and controversial reggae star who won a Grammy just hours before standing retrial on federal drug and gun ... More >>

Buju Banton's Legal Team Blasts Feds in Latest Arguments

​Buju Banton's legal team let loose in documents filed Friday and said the government's "presentation of the facts... is untethered to the record and is so riddled with inaccuracies and misleading statements that it would be nearly impossible to address all of them."

Buju Banton's Appeal Pisses Off DOJ, Causes Government to File Its Own Appeal

​On Friday, the Department of Justice filed an aggressive response to Buju Banton's appeal and continued to write off the fact that the drug case was built by a deceitful snitch with tremendous financial incentive to entrap people -- as detailed in last week's cover story.The DOJ al ... More >>

Reggae Great Buju Banton Is Locked Up on Drug Charges. Was He Entrapped?

Five Buju Banton Songs to Know

​This week's cover story takes a look at whether the U.S. government, with the help of a shady snitch, entrapped Buju Banton, and iconic and controversial, Grammy-winning reggae musician.Buju is one of those rare reggae artists who achieved global fame while remaining a fan favorite in Jamaica. Hi ... More >>

Alex Johnson, Colombian Snitch in Case Against Buju Banton, Earned Millions From U.S. Government

​Alex Johnson -- a main character in this week's cover story about the conviction of Buju Banton -- on Monday further delayed his bankruptcy hearing. On the surface, there's nothing extraordinary about that; many Americans have turned to bankruptcy proceedings, which can stretch months if not year ... More >>

Buju Banton's Attorney: "We Had Ten Really Good Issues for the Appeal"

​The Department of Justice should have filed a response to Buju Banton's appeal on Friday, but as has been the government's style throughout the more than two-year-long saga, it's dragging its heels. Now federal prosecutors have until February 10 to counter arguments made in the hulking, 17,000-wo ... More >>

Buju Banton Defense Fund Gets Money if You Buy a Very Depressing DVD

​Reggae star Buju Banton, who was sentenced this past June to ten years on federal drug charges, isn't in the best financial shape. A bank recently foreclosed on his Tamarac duplex, and he's got a hefty legal tab to work off after going through two trials, the first of which ended in a hung jury.R ... More >>

Sublime With Rome Leads a "Wave" Reggae Movement Stuck in the '90s

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