If acquitted, Buju still not free Lawyer says Reggae artiste will be detained, then deported

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IF the panel of jurors returns a not guilty verdict in the drug trial of Jamaican Reggae star Buju Banton, he will still remain in the custody of the United States Government, one of the entertainer's lawyers confirmed yesterday.

Banton's immigration status was changed upon his arrest last December, as a provisional visa that was issued to him by the United States Embassy at Liguanea in Kingston was revoked.

A member of Banton's legal team, attorney Marc David Seitles, told the Sunday Observer that the artiste will be picked up by immigration officials and taken to the Krome Detention Centre in Miami, Florida, where he will be processed and eventually deported.

The Krome Detention Centre is a temporary housing facility run by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and houses detainees who are awaiting deportation or those waiting for their immigration status to be determined.

Yesterday, Seitles said the manner of the revocation of the artiste's visa was not in keeping with normal procedure.

"It is unusual for a visa to be revoked before the case comes to a conclusion," he said.

In 2004, Banton, whose real name is Mark Anthony Myrie, was found guilty in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court of cultivating marijuana after police found two plants at his Carlisle Avenue Gargamel Studio in St Andrew.

He was sentenced to a fine of $9,000 or 60 days in prison.

The conviction led to his work permit and other visas being revoked by the US Embassy and resulted in him not travelling to the United States for more than a year.

Banton eventually reapplied to the embassy for entry to the US and was granted a provisional visa which allowed him to embark on a tour of North America to promote his album Rasta Got Soul, immediately after he travelled across Europe with his Til Shiloh band.

Soon after he was arrested at his Tamarac home in South Florida in December last year, his immigration status changed to illegal after the visa was revoked.

His status forced him to waive his right to a bail hearing earlier this year, as even if he had been granted bail he would have been collared by immigration authorities.

Banton, along with Ian Thomas and James Mack, was charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute five kilogrammes of cocaine. He was also jointly charged with possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime, given that Mack had a gun when he was arrested. Thomas and Mack have since pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in November.

Banton's trial started last Monday in the US Gibbons Court in Tampa and was handed to the jury on Thursday for a verdict. However, the 13-member jury retired for the weekend without arriving at a unanimous decision. They will resume deliberations tomorrow at 8:45 am.

If Banton is acquitted this week, he will likely be in custody until Thursday, the day that deportees are flown back to Jamaica.

But a supporter of the artiste who has been attending the trial said Banton is only focussed on the verdict and is more than willing to come to the land of his birth.

"Buju has been in custody for over nine months, so I doubt if a few days would hurt him that much," said the man, who opted not to be named. "He only wants to be freed of the charges against him at this point." If found guilty, Banton faces 20 years to life in prison and a fine of up to US$4 million.