Busy Signal pleads not guilty

Entertainer, Busy Signal has pleaded not guilty to failure to appear in a Minnesota Court.

Busy, whose given name is Glendale Gordon is accused of fleeing the United States to avoid a drug trial ten years ago.

The Associated Press is reporting that Busy Signal could face up to five years in prison if convicted on that count.

Busy signal was ordered remanded pending his trial when he appeared in a US court yesterday.

The 33 year old entertainer was charged in February 2002 with two counts related to cocaine trafficking.

In court yesterday, Assistant US attorney, Andrew Dunn, said Busy Signal fled the US before his trial was to begin in Minnesota and has been a fugitive for the past decade.

Busy Signal was detained by authorities in London last month and accused of traveling with false documents, including a passport that listed a different name.

He was allowed to fly to Kingston, Jamaica, and was arrested at the airport there.

Busy Signal waived his right to an extradition hearing, on the failure to appear in count and is being prosecuted in the US on that charge alone.

The Associated Press says the cocaine charges still exist, but because of extradition treaties, any future prosecution on those counts would have to be worked out between the Jamaican and US Governments.

Busy Signal's attorney, Bill Mauzy, said in court that the US does not have jurisdiction to prosecute his client on the drug charges.