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 on April 19.
Beenie Man 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.
“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.
In January, he was charged with breaching the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA) at an alleged event held on November 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.
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.” In court on Monday, the Crown dropped the charge relating to the Noise Abatement act.
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.
