TAMPA, Florida (AP) — Fresh off a Grammy win, Jamaican reggae star Buju Banton is set to stand trial again in federal court in Florida.
Jury selection will begin Monday in Tampa. Banton is accused of conspiring to buy cocaine from an undercover officer and faces up to life in prison.
The jury deadlocked in his first trial in September.
His 2010 album “Before the Dawn” won the Grammy award for best reggae album Sunday. He recorded the album in Jamaica before his December 2009 arrest.
In a statement Monday, Banton said winning the Grammy shows that his music transcends borders and “people are now paying attention to what I’m saying in-depth.”
He said music is his life and an art form “that cannot be denied any living soul.”
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
