BUJU... continues his legal fight to overturn a 2011 drug conviction.
BUJU… continues his legal fight to overturn a 2011 drug conviction.

By Livern Barrett—

The new legal team for incarcerated reggae superstar Buju Banton has filed on 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The new legal team replaces attorneys, Chokwe Lumumba and Imhotep Alkebu-Lan, who have withdrawn from the case.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.

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