It will cost Buju Bantona quarter million dollars if he wants out of jail before a new trial starts in December on cocaine-trafficking charges.
A judge in Florida set the $250,000 bail on the reggae star who would also have to pay for 24-hour security to ensure he didn't leave his home except on emergency visits to his doctor or lawyer.
With the limited freedom he would enjoy, one wonders if spending that huge sum for just a little sliver of freedom would be worthwhile.
But that is a decision that Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, will have to make. It is part of the penalty for getting involved in an alleged scheme to buy large quantities of cocaine from an undercover police officer.
Earlier this month, a jury deadlocked on charges of conspiracy to possess and distribute coke and a firearm charge that could have put Banton behind bars for life.
The reggae crooner said he had no real intentions of either buying or selling cocaine and only told the undercover agent of the plan to impress him.
Banton said he believed the agent had good contacts in the music industry and that boasting of the drug plot would make Banton look like a big man to music executives.
Banton's dancehall stylings have won him Grammy nominations and fans across the world who appreciate his gritty, forceful style of singing.
28-Sep-10 - Trying to get various black public figures to speak out for or against Bishop Eddie Long has been harder than getting 4-year-olds to go to the dentist. No one is talking, but everyone is paying attention.
27-Sep-10 - Jessica Moore, 19, was hanging out at an off-campus frat party Saturday, when a man who was angry about not getting in to the party, came back with a gun and started shooting. Moore was shot in the head.
23-Sep-10 - Some really "interesting" pictures of Bishop Eddie Long, which were allegedly sent by Long to one of his "spiritual sons," were made public last week.
