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Reggae star Buju Banton's attorneys want to leave case
Patty Ryan, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 24, 2013.
TAMPA — Reggae star Buju Banton's attorneys want to quit representing him in the appeal of a federal drug case.
Attorney Chokwe Lumumba was elected mayor of Jackson, Miss., this summer. Attorney Imhotep Alkebu-lan became special assistant to Jackson's city attorney.
The two filed a motion Wednesday in U.S. District Court, asking to withdraw and stating that their new duties "will prevent them from representing him in future proceedings."
Their vigorous defense of Banton won a dismissal of a gun charge in June and left Tampa juror Terri Wright facing a possible misconduct charge for researching the case during trial.
Banton, born Mark Anthony Myrie, is serving a 10-year prison sentence for helping set up a deal to buy and sell 11 pounds of cocaine.
His attorneys wanted U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr. to order a new trial. Instead, Moody set aside a conviction on a gun charge, reasoning that it might have been affected by Wright's research.
The two defense attorneys also withdrew last week from a murder trial that was supposed to have begun Monday in Oktibbeha County, Miss.
The Starkville Daily News in Mississippi reported Saturday that Lumumba first cited mayoral duties in attempting to leave the murder trial.
When a judge declined, Lumumba presented documents relating to a health matter, and the defense team's withdrawal was allowed, the account said.
In the Tampa case involving Banton, the motion to withdraw has been referred to Magistrate Judge Thomas G. Wilson.
It states that Banton has retained other counsel.
Source: Tampa Bay Times
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Buju’s co-accused released from prison
Tuesday, September 03, 2013
IAN Thomas, one of the co-conspirators in the Buju Banton drug case, has been released from federal prison.
Thomas — who the Federal Bureau of Prisons' website said was released on August 23 — and James Mack were held in a police-controlled warehouse in Tampa, Florida , attempting to purchase a large quantity of cocaine p> from undercover Drug Enforcement Agents. A quantity of cash and an illegal pistol were later found in a car Mack was driving at the time.
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That same day Banton, whose right name is Mark Myrie, was arrested at his home in Tamarac, South Florida.
Mack and Thomas both pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges and agreed to testify against the Jamaican entertainer in exchange for lesser sentences.
Mack, who is currently serving time in a federal prison in Sacramento, California, is slated for release on November 11 this year.
Banton has been adamant that he is innocent of the charges and despite being sentenced to 10 years is fighting for a new trial after the jury foreperson in his second trial, Teri Wright, was found guilty of contempt of court after it was revealed that she had disobeyed an order from Magistrate James Moody not to study any aspect of the law as it related to Banton's case.
Banton is seeking to ask a US court to throw out his guilty verdict on the grounds that the jury was tainted.
In the meantime, the Buju Banton Defence Support Committee, in a release yesterday, said it remained at a loss in understanding how the foreperson of the jury could be found in contempt of court during the trial and follow-up hearing, yet only one of that jury's decisions was thrown out.
And the committee -- an international group of Banton's friends and civil rights activists — yesterday denied a local media report that the imprisoned entertainer has retained his former lawyer, David Oscar Markus on his legal team.
"That information is false. David Markus is not on Buju's legal team. Buju's new Attorney is Charles Ogletree of Harvard University. He is the sole attorney representing Mark," the group said in a release.
Attorney Chukwe Lumumba, who had replaced Marcus, was in June this year forced to recuse himself after he was elected mayor of Jackson, Mississippi. He, however, assisted the committee in securing the services of Charles Ogletree Jr to represent the Jamaican entertainer.
Ogletree is director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He founded and became director of the school's Criminal Justice Institute in 1990.
Banton was on August 24 sent to the FTC prison in Oklahoma, from where he will be transferred to another federal prison to serve his time.
He was previously locked up at the FCI penal institution in Miami, Florida but when the evidentiary hearings into Wright's misconduct began last year he was transferred to the Pinellas County Jail in Tampa.
Source:Jamaicaobserver
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Buju Banton files appeal to seek retrial
Published: Wednesday February 19, 2014 | 11:38 am
BUJU... continues his legal fight to overturn a 2011 drug conviction.
Livern Barrett, Gleaner Writer
The new legal team for incarcerated reggae superstar Buju Banton has filed an appeal with the US Court of Appeal seeking a new trial.
The appeal was filed with the 11th US Circuit Court on February 4 by attorneys Charles Ogletree, Jack Cushman and Max Stern.
In the 55-page document the attorneys have requested permission to make oral arguments to the court to explain why Banton deserves a new trial.
The new legal team replaces attorneys, Chokwe Lumumba and Imhotep Alkebu-Lan, who have withdrawn from the case.
Lumumba is now the Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi.
Buju was arrested during a US Drug Enforcement Agency sting operation after
police claimed he tried to buy cocaine from an undercover officer.
His trial ended with a mistrial but in June 2011 the entertainer was
convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to possess
with the intent to distribute cocaine and using a telephone to facilitate a
drug trafficking offense.
In his first appeal, the 11th Circuit of the US Appeal Court refused to
throw out the conviction and re-instated the firearm conviction.
Source: Jamaica Gleaner/power106
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No leads into death of Buju's former lawyer
Shereita Grizzle, STAR Writer
( l - r ) Chokwe Lumumba, Buju Banton
The cause of death of former lawyer for incarcerated deejay Buju Banton is still unknown. Chokwe Lumumba, who helped Buju Banton appeal his drug-trafficking sentence back in 2012, advised the deejay to seek the advice of other legal counsel just before being appointed mayor of Jackson.
According to the New York Times, the official cause of death is still unknown, but says Lumumba had a cold a day before his death.
Lumumba died at St Dominic Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi on Tuesday afternoon. He was 66.
Olimatta Taal, one of his mentees, told The Weekend STAR that Lumumba's life and work was one of her greatest influences and he will be missed by numerous persons across the globe.
"I have known him since I was 13 years old, he was Buju's lawyer, he was Tupac's lawyer and he was always fighting for the rights of black people at any cost, as long as it was within his professional jurisdiction," she said.
not an excuse
She encouraged persons who respected Lumumba to carry on the rich legacy he left behind.
"There are a lot of people who are hurting right now because this was just so sudden, but him not being here physically is not an excuse for the work to stop.
"He set a blueprint for us to follow, so we should work towards understanding his legacy and continue in his footsteps," she said while offering condolences to Lumumba's family.
Lumumba served one term on the City Council. He was sworn in as mayor last July. As an attorney, Chokwe Lumumba represented the likes of rapper Tupac as well as members of the Black Panther Party.
Source: Jamaica-star
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Buju Strikes Deal With US: Gun Charge Dropped, Prison Release Slated For 2019
Published:Thursday | May 14, 2015
Buju ... could have faced an additional five years in prison if convicted on the gun charge.
Imprisoned Jamaican entertainer Buju Banton has reportedly made a deal with United States prosecutors to remove a pending gun charge and free him in less than four years.
A report published today by the Tampa Bay Times says Banton has agreed to stop filing appeals in exchange for prosecutors dropping the pursuit of a gun charge.
Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, could have faced an additional five years if convicted.
Instead, he will be deported to Jamaica after his scheduled January 2019 release from prison.
The report quotes U.S. Attorney's Office as saying that U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr. approved the settlement earlier this week.
Nearly two years ago, Moody threw out a 2011 conviction on the gun count after finding that a juror had inappropriately researched a legal theory relating to the charge.
Banton also wanted the other verdicts to be thrown out but recently, he lost an appeal, and the matter was returned to Tampa.
Banton is serving a 10-year sentence on drug-related charges after he was arrested at his South Florida home in December 2009 and charged with conspiracy to distribute five or more kilogrammes of cocaine.
His arrest followed a sting operation at a Drug Enforcement Agency-controlled warehouse in Tampa, which also resulted in the arrest of James Mack and Ian Thomas, who were attempting to purchase cocaine from undercover agents.
Source: Jamaica-Gleaner
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Buju Banton to get early release from US prison
January 08, 2016
Buju Banton may be released from prison in the United States some two months earlier than his initial release date.
The US Federal Bureau of Prison indicated on its website yesterday that the artiste, whose given name is Mark Myrie, is to be released on December 8, 2018 instead of the February 2019 date that was initially set for his release.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons told The Gleaner/Power 106 News Centre yesterday that she was not authorised to divulge information about an inmate.
The Gleaner Online also reports that Rosemary Duncan, coordinator of the Buju Banton Defence Support Committee has declined to comment on the entertainer’s reduced sentence.
This news comes just two months after, American network BET reported that the Grammy-winning reggae singer could be among 6,000 prisoners to be released during November as part of a reform from the US Sentencing Commission.
The news went viral in Jamaica as fans were excited by the thought that the "Not An Easy Road" singer could be sent home early.
Buju who is being held at the McRae correctional institution in Atlanta, Georgia was remanded in Miami in December 2009 where where he was charged with conspiracy to distribute and possession of more than five kilograms of cocaine.
He was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in 2011.
Source: The Jamaica Star
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Early release for Buju Banton
BY SIMONE MORGAN-LINDO Observer reporter
Wednesday, January 04, 2017
Buju Banton.
INCARCERATED reggae singer Buju Banton may have a year removed from his 10-year mandatory sentence, according to United States prison records.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons’ website is reporting the artiste’s new release date is December 8, 2018.
Buju Banton, whose given name is Mark Myrie, is currently being held at McRae Correctional Facility in Georgia. He was arrested in 2009 on cocaine charges, given a mandatory 10-year sentence in 2011, and previously scheduled to be released in 2019.
In 2015 the United States Justice Department announced it would be releasing about 6,600 inmates early from prison in an effort to reduce overcrowding and provide relief to drug offenders who received harsh sentences. In that same year the entertainer said he would be halting any further appeals, while the US Attorney’S Office announced it would be dismissing firearms charge against the singer.
Last year the entertainer’s fans got word from him in an article published in Vibe Magazine’s popular ‘Boomshots’ column. In it he also blasted contemporary music, describing it as “meaningless”.
“Tell my fans do not be distracted by all the things that are taking place around them because it is designed to throw them off kilter, to make moral decadence even more widespread than it already is, and plunge people into a state of darkness.
“They’re trying to reverse the progress that we have made over the years through the music. And now the music is meaningless. It doesn’t stimulate, it doesn’t educate, it doesn’t reinvigorate. All it does is get you angry because it’s filled with nothing but narcissists exalting themselves over the earthly possessions that they have managed to get. They don’t even have anything—it’s crumbs.
“And therefore, the music is suffering. The people are suffering. Sadness and gloom is prevailing. It’s widespread. But be patient. Because suffering may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Days after his conviction, Buju Banton won a Grammy Award for his album Before Dawn. His other albums include
‘Til Shiloh (1995), Inna Heights (1997) and Unchained Spirit (2000).
Source: The Jamaica Star
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3 Days to go
release date is December 8, 2018
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Buju Banton Released From US Prison
Buju Banton has been released from prison after eight years at the McRae Correctional institution.
An officer at the institution said the entertainer whose given name is Mark Myrie, was let out
earlier today. The United States embassy in...
Credits:Jamaica Gleaner
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