News Americas, TAMPA, FL, Mon. June 13, 2011: Grammy-winning reggae singer, Buju Banton, is hoping for a lesser jail time later this month.
Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, faces a mandatory 15 years when he is sentenced on June 23rd in the Sam Gibbons Federal Court in Tampa.
His legal team is urging for a reduced sentence, stating “the 10-year minimum mandatory sentence for the drug count and the five-year minimum mandatory consecutive sentence for the gun count are unconstitutional in this case because it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment and also because it constitutes too severe a penalty for proceeding to trial.”
Banton was convicted in February on charges of conspiracy to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, possession of a firearm in the furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime and using the wires to facilitate a drug-trafficking offence.
