BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – BUJU BANTON, Jamaican reggae singer and Grammy-award winning artiste was found guilty today (Feb. 22) on cocaine conspiracy charges.
According to Associated Press, the 12-member jury in the Buju Banton trial began their second day of deliberation today, after they could not come up with a decision on February 18, after nine hours of deliberating.
The trial of the Jamaican reggae singer, who won his first Grammy-award on February 13, began on February 14, and according to www.go-jamaica.com, he was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine.
He was also found guilty for attempting to possess five kilograms or more of cocaine, and also for aiding and abetting others in using a communication facility in the commission of a felony.
Buju was however found not guilty for knowingly and intentionally possessing a firearm in furtherance of and during the course of a drug-trafficking crime.
He was charged in December 2009 and this is his second trial, as the one in 2010 ended in a hung jury.
The nationnews.com reported that Judge Jim Moody had instructed the jury last Friday to consider some testimonies with more caution than other statements, such as that given by paid informant Alexander Johnson on behalf of the US government.
It was stated that Moody also told the jurors that a person may be a conspirator even without knowing all the details of the unlawful plan, or the names and identities of all the other alleged conspirators.
“If the defendant played only a minor part in the plan but had a general understanding of the unlawful purpose of the plan - and willfully joined in the plan on at least one occasion - that is sufficient for you to find the defendant guilty,” the judge said.
He however added: “Simply being at the scene of an event or merely associating with certain people and discussing common goals and interests do not establish proof of a conspiracy. Also, a person who does not know about a conspiracy, but happens to act in a way that advances some purpose of one, doesn't automatically become a conspirator.”
The trial was held at the Sam M Gibbons Federal Court in Tampa, Florida and now convicted, Banton could face up to life in prison.
