Beenie Man pleads guilty to breaching COVID-19 protocol
Jamaican dancehall deejay Beenie Man pleaded guilty to breaching the COVID-19 curfew to host an illegal party when he appeared in the St. Elizabeth Parish Court in Jamaica on April 19, according to CaribbeanNationalWeekly (CNW).
CNW said the dance hall star is scheduled to be sentenced on May 17.
The deejay’s attorney Roderick Gordon said that he took the responsible course and changed his plea, CNW said.
“Beenie Man pleaded guilty because he wanted to take a responsible approach given that he is an elder of the global music community,” Gordon told Loop News.
CNW said Beenie Man was charged in January with breaching the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) at an alleged event held on Nov. 29 in St. Elizabeth.
“The entertainer turned himself in to the Black River police in St. Elizabeth on New Year’s Eve after a summons was issued by the cops earlier in the day,” CNW said.
“He initially pleaded not guilty for the two charges: failure ‘to obtain permission from the Superintendent, contrary to the Noise Abatement Act’, and ‘a breach of the curfew contrary to the relevant Disaster Relief Management Order,’” it added.
In court on Monday, the Crown dropped the charge relating to the Noise Abatement Act, said CNW, stating that the DRMA carries fines ranging from J$3,000 to J$500,000.
A J$10,000 fine is imposed for failure to stay inside a place of residence during a curfew, CNW said.
