Convicted reggae superstar Buju Banton is scheduled to appear in court in the United States today to hear if his 10-year jail term will be increased by five more years.

This follows the decision of the US Court of Appeal for the 11th Circuit last month to side with prosecutors and reinstate Buju's firearm possession conviction.

The appeals court, however, ordered that the case be sent back to the trial judge for him to decide whether Buju should be retried on the firearm charge or sentenced to the five years allowed under the sentencing guidelines.

Buju, whose real name is Mark Anthony Myrie, was convicted of the firearms charge at his trial in February, but it was later thrown out by the trial judge.

The Grammy-winning artiste was also found guilty of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and using a telephone to facilitate a drug-trafficking offence.

He was given a 10-year prison term for those convictions.

But even after the US Appeal Court turned down his case, Buju indicated that he was prepared to continue his legal fight to overturn the convictions.

Last month he parted ways with his long-time attorney David Oscar Markus and hired celebrated civil-rights attorney Chokwe Lumumba to take over his appeal.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com