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Buju Banton Granted New Appeal Hearing

11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear reggae star's argument to overturn drug conviction.

More than three years after he was convicted on drug charges, Buju Banton has been granted a new hearing on his appeal, the Associated Press reports.

The 41-year-old reggae star's case will be heard by the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, per his lawyer's announcement Tuesday (Aug. 19). 

"We look forward to the appellate argument," Banton's lawyer Charles Ogletree said. The Harvard professor took over the case this past February. 

Banton, whose birth name is Mark Myre, was arrested in a 2009 sting operation and sentenced to 10 years for cocaine conspiracy and trafficking charges the following year. He argues that the conviction is unjust based on a lack of solid evidence, claiming a government informant improperly entrapped him in order to be paid $50,000.  A court upheld the conviction in 2012. 

No date has been scheduled for the new hearing.    

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