It was not a good year for some Jamaican entertainers (and a former beauty pageant contestant). Several were hauled before the courts or jailed.
Here is a look at some of those cases.
Flippa Mafia
After a three-year legal battle, flamboyant deejay Flippa Mafia was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the Camden Superior Court in New Jersey in June.
He will serve 12 years before being eligible for parole. Flippa Mafia was also ordered to pay a US$250,000 anti-money laundering profiteering penalty.
In addition to songs like Unfinished House and Hear Me Hear, the deejay was known for ‘dashing cash’ into the audience during his performances. He also appeared in the 2002 movie Shottas.
Marsha-Gay Reynolds
The former Miss Jamaica World contestant found herself on the wrong side of the law after attempting to smuggle nearly 60 pounds of cocaine into the United States in March.
Reynolds, a Jet Blue Airlines employee, fled out of Los Angeles International Airport after she was randomly selected for secondary screening.
The following day she flew to New York where she surrendered to US Drug Enforcement Administration agents. Earlier this month she pleaded guilty to drug charges and will be sentenced March 13.
The 32-year-old faces a minimum 10-year prison sentence.
Elephant Man
In February, the deejay was freed of rape and other sexual charges in Kingston’s Home Circuit Court. The case was dismissed after it was revealed that the complainant died one month earlier.
The prosecution said it could offer no evidence against the artiste. As a result, jurors were instructed by Justice Marcia Dunbar Green to return a formal verdict of not guilty, freeing Elephant Man (whose given name is Oniel Bryan) of rape, buggery and grievous sexual assault.
Anju Blaxxx
The music producer walked out of a North Dakota courtroom a free man in August after a mail and wire fraud case against him was dismissed.
Blaxxx (real name Andrew Sayeed Myrie) was charged in connection with telemarketing fraud. He had been arrested in Florida by American law enforcement on February 7, 2015.
Kalado
Scheduled to return to court in January on assault charges, Kalado, whose given name is Eton Gordon, was arrested and charged with assaulting a woman in June. He pled not guilty when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court this month.
Ruffian
After reported missing by family members it was discovered that the veteran deejay has been detained at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, since September.
Donovan Joseph, Ruffian’s spouse, is uncertain why she was held by the authorities.
Ruffian, whose given name is Sharon Peterkin, is still listed as missing on the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s website.
Corey Todd and Devin Di Dakta
Both made it before the judge after nightclub owner and promoter Todd allegedly attacked deejay Devin Di Dakta in January.
Allegations are that Devin Di Dakta was taken from a nightclub into a nearby parking lot and beaten by several members of Todd’s security team.
They are expected to reappear in court on January 25.
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