Contents
- Vybz Kartel hired his lead attorney Isat Buchanan to represent him before the Privy Council in the UK in 2020.
- While Buchanan name as been often associated with Vybz Kartel’s name since 2020, not many outside Jamaica know that Isat Buchanan, who is the son of Reggae Music legend Big Youth, real name Manley Buchanan, also has a his own very particular story. He was jailed for 10 years in the United States, before becoming a lawyer.
- Scroll middle of this post of his recent interview on The Fix where he details his previous conviction and how he overcame it.
- In 1996 Isat was on his way to Florida and while he was preparing to travel overseas, a neighbor asked him to deliver some cash to someone in the United States (US). “I was stopped at the airport. They confiscated the packages and later said that it was drugs,”
- WATCH ISAT BUCHANAN EXPLAINING WHAT’S NEXT ON KARTEL’S CASE ONSTAGE TV WITH WINFORD WILLIAMS
- Buchanan said that when he appeared before the then Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle, he offered him bail and indicated that he would recuse himself from the case because of the “unfortunate” circumstances, but Buchanan was eventually convicted and had to pay a fine of approximately $1 million.
- In 1999 Isat Buchanan was on a flight to Florida, in the United States, when a quantity of drugs was found in the possession of another passenger. He said that the passenger directed authorities to him, saying that he was the person responsible.
- Buchanan was then given a 10-year prison sentence because authorities in the US formed the view that the incident was a continuing act from his drug case in Jamaica and that he had got off easy. “The judge in America felt that the $1 million fine imposed in Jamaica was a slap on the wrist. So they actually doubled my sentence,” Buchanan re-called telling his story.
- But rather than getting down on himself, Buchanan used his ordeal as motivation to expand his knowledge of the law, while simultaneously helping Jamaicans and other inmates he encountered in the American penal system. His decision to immerse himself in legal work while serving his sentence, Buchanan explained, was born out of the belief that the American justice system was “really flawed”.
- Buchanan said that following his deportation, he took up a music career, while volunteering to help persons residing in inner-city communities, but quickly found the need for his newly acquired legal skills was bigger than the need of his music.
- Around 2011/12 he enrolled at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and from there he took around 5 years to be formally called to the Bar in a short ceremony presided over by Martin Gayle, now a judge of the Supreme Court. Word of his convictions leaked to his peers at the UWI, and soon, a petition was being circulated to block him from entering the legal profession.
- These concerns reached the General Legal Council (GLC), the watchdog entity for the legal profession. “The concern was that they were going to let someone into the fraternity who had a prior (conviction),” he explained. However, he said that Allan Wood, chairman of the GLC, noted that his rehabilitation had been exceptional.
- So Isat Buchanan is a man that was able to turn around his own life and turn around all the odds and adversity and come up on top of all. What an inspiring story.
- Isat Buchanan Details Doing Prison Time for Drug Trafficking & Becoming A Lawyer || The Fix Podcast
- Isat “All In Life” Official Music Video Vybz Kartel Muzik 2024
Vybz Kartel hired his lead attorney Isat Buchanan to represent him before the Privy Council in the UK in 2020.
While Buchanan name as been often associated with Vybz Kartel’s name since 2020, not many outside Jamaica know that Isat Buchanan, who is the son of Reggae Music legend Big Youth, real name Manley Buchanan, also has a his own very particular story. He was jailed for 10 years in the United States, before becoming a lawyer.
Scroll middle of this post of his recent interview on The Fix where he details his previous conviction and how he overcame it.
In 1996 Isat was on his way to Florida and while he was preparing to travel overseas, a neighbor asked him to deliver some cash to someone in the United States (US). “I was stopped at the [Norman Manley International] airport. They confiscated the packages and later said that it was drugs,”
WATCH ISAT BUCHANAN EXPLAINING WHAT’S NEXT ON KARTEL’S CASE ONSTAGE TV WITH WINFORD WILLIAMS
Buchanan said that when he appeared before the then Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle, he offered him bail and indicated that he would recuse himself from the case because of the “unfortunate” circumstances, but Buchanan was eventually convicted and had to pay a fine of approximately $1 million.
In 1999 Isat Buchanan was on a flight to Florida, in the United States, when a quantity of drugs was found in the possession of another passenger. He said that the passenger directed authorities to him, saying that he was the person responsible.
“When they told that to the American federal authorities, they actually arrested me and they found me guilty by myself,” he told the Jamaican press during a previous interview that dates back to 2017.
Buchanan was then given a 10-year prison sentence because authorities in the US formed the view that the incident was a continuing act from his drug case in Jamaica and that he had got off easy. “The judge in America felt that the $1 million fine imposed in Jamaica was a slap on the wrist. So they actually doubled my sentence,” Buchanan re-called telling his story.
But rather than getting down on himself, Buchanan used his ordeal as motivation to expand his knowledge of the law, while simultaneously helping Jamaicans and other inmates he encountered in the American penal system. His decision to immerse himself in legal work while serving his sentence, Buchanan explained, was born out of the belief that the American justice system was “really flawed”.
Buchanan said that following his deportation, he took up a music career, while volunteering to help persons residing in inner-city communities, but quickly found the need for his newly acquired legal skills was bigger than the need of his music.
Around 2011/12 he enrolled at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and from there he took around 5 years to be formally called to the Bar in a short ceremony presided over by Martin Gayle, now a judge of the Supreme Court. Word of his convictions leaked to his peers at the UWI, and soon, a petition was being circulated to block him from entering the legal profession.
These concerns reached the General Legal Council (GLC), the watchdog entity for the legal profession. “The concern was that they were going to let someone into the fraternity who had a prior (conviction),” he explained. However, he said that Allan Wood, chairman of the GLC, noted that his rehabilitation had been exceptional.
So Isat Buchanan is a man that was able to turn around his own life and turn around all the odds and adversity and come up on top of all. What an inspiring story.
Isat Buchanan Details Doing Prison Time for Drug Trafficking & Becoming A Lawyer || The Fix Podcast
Isat released a song, shared on Vybz Kartel’s official Youtube account, under Vybz Kartel Muzik, titled “All In Life” and dropped also the official music video. Like everything else about Isat Buchanan it’s full of inspiration and powers. Watch the official music video below directed by CapcthaDat.
