BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TRACII MCGREGOR, President of Buju Banton’s record label Gargamel Music Inc., has warned the world against a rush of judgment.
In an exclusive interview with CaribWorldNewsNetowrk (CWNN), McGregor insisted that the artiste, whose real name is Mark Anthony Myrie, is “innocent” and the label would pursue the best legal team to prove this.
“It`s on an poppin,” McGregor told CWNN.
The news site also reported that McGregor revealed that she has been meeting with several top criminal attorneys to take over the case.
They include top criminal defence attorneys David Oscar Markus, who was named a 2009 Florida Super Lawyer for White Collar Criminal Defence Representation and was listed in the 2009 Chambers & Partners for White Collar Crime & Government Investigations; and Frank Rubino, who has tried hundreds of cases involving serious federal and international criminal offenses including the case against Panamanian General Manuel Noriega.
She also disclosed that current attorney, Herbert Walker III, was simply hired to represent Banton during his initial court appearance and the label has made no decision on whom the trial attorney will be. As for Banton, McGregor told CWNN that the singer is “holding firm” even though it is “a difficult situation”.
“I saw him yesterday,” said McGregor of Banton and told him to “go inward and preserve yourself.” Banton, she said, has also focused on helping other inmates, especially Jamaicans at the Miami federal prison, who have no legal representation.
So far the singer has not been transferred to Tampa, since waiving his right to a bail hearing Wednesday in preference for a Tampa trial. A clearly emotional McGregor revealed that she was in New York last Thursday afternoon when she got the “shocking” calling of Banton`s arrest.
“I was stunned,” said McGregor, who had been actively in Florida for the past few weeks preparing for the move of the label officially to the Sunshine State.
But she says the focus now is on staging the best legal defence and rallying the fans to stand by the reggae singer, whose songs like `Our Father In Zion’, `Hills and Valleys’, `Give I Strength’, and `Cry No More` has made him an household name among fans of conscious reggae. McGregor also revealed the label would soon release a new video on the four-time Grammy Award-winning singer`s new song, `Optimistic Soul,, from his new album, `Rasta Got soul`.
Banton was arrested on December 10 in Florida and indicted on December 15.
The federal indictment claims that Myrie, along with Ian Thomas and James Jackson Mack, “knowingly and willing fully conspired with each other and with others to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of a substance containing a delectable amount of cocaine”.
If convicted, he faces 20 to life on the charge while all property deemed to have been gained from drug distribution could be forfeited.
