According to a report by The Tampa Tribune, the popular entertainer who is scheduled to be freed in 2019 asked for an early release in the light of a recent change to federal drug sentencing guidelines.
Unfortunately the change won't apply to most of those serving minimum mandatory sentences under the law.
Banton, whose legal name is Mark Myrie, is serving 10 years, the minimum mandatory sentence for his conviction on a charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
The only ways to get around the minimum mandatory sentences would require defendants to cooperate with investigators or at least give a full confession to their crimes.
In his motion, Banton argues he should be sentenced to 92 months in prison under the new guidelines. He says he’s been “working in prison since his incarceration” and has “very good conduct’’ behind bars.
He asks that the court reduce his sentence and turn him over to immigration authorities so he can be deported back to Jamaica.
The federal probation office in the Middle District of Florida has identified 1,748 inmates originally sentenced in Tampa on drug charges as potentially eligible to benefit from the change, known as Drugs Minus 2, because it reduces sentencing guidelines for most drug offenses by two levels. If projections hold true, the average sentence of 11 years and 1 month will be reduced to nine years.
