Florida Sentinel Bulletin

TAMPA — A federal judge has denied reggae singer Buju Banton’s request for a new trial, saying there’s no need because of a previous appeals court ruling.

In June, the federal appeals court upheld the Jamaican singer’s 2011 conviction on cocaine conspiracy and trafficking charges. The three-judge panel also sided with a jury’s conviction of Banton on a gun possession charge, which the trial judge tossed at his sentencing.

The appeals court rules that there was sufficient evidence to convict the singer, whose real name is Mark Myrie, on the gun charge.

LOS ANGELES — The mother of Michael Jackson said in court papers she was kept from communicating with outsiders while at a resort in Tucson and was unaware she had been reported missing.

Katherine Jackson declared in the documents obtained Thursday that she had no idea she was the subject of a search until she accidentally heard a TV report.

She said she was told her doctor had ordered her to rest and she was flown to Arizona. At a spa, her cell phone was confiscated along with her IPad and she said she was kept in a room with no working phone or TV service.

She said she asked about Michael’s children and was told they were fine.

The disclosure marked the latest development in a series of events that began when Katherine Jackson was reported missing but later turned up at the spa with family members.

The documents were released after a judge reinstated Katherine Jackson as the guardian of the children in an arrangement that also keeps their cousin as temporary co-guardian.

Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff said during a hearing that an investigator who looked into the children’s care found that the late pop star’s 82-year-old mother was an excellent guardian and the children love her very much.

“I think the kids are in terrific hands,” the judge said. “It appears from the report that Katherine Jackson has done a wonderful job and cares about the children very much.”

NEW YORK — Oprah Winfrey has tapped La Toya Jackson to star in her own reality show.

“Life with La Toya” is described as a “candid look” inside Jackson’s life as she juggles family, friends and business. It will air next year on Winfrey’s TV network, OWN.

La Toya is one of Katherine and Joe Jackson’s nine children and was Michael’s sister.

She isn’t the first Jackson to get a reality show. “The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty” aired for six episodes on A&E. It followed Jermaine, Jackie, Marlon and Tito Jackson.

La Toya also competed last year on “Celebrity Apprentice.”

On Thursday, OWN also announced a slate of celebrities sitting down with Winfrey for upcoming episodes of “Oprah’s Next Chapter.” They include Stephen Colbert, Bette Midler, Jennifer Hudson and Kelsey Grammer.

It’s been over two months since rapper Mystikal was placed behind bars for violating his probation and now he’s been released from the East Baton Rouge Parish Jail in Louisiana, reports TMZ.

The oft-troubled New Orleans rapper had previously served six years in prison for 2003 charges stemming from sexual battery to extortion.

After violating his probation in February for a misdemeanor domestic abuse charge Mystikal, whose real name is Michael Tyler, turned himself in to authorities last May and was sentenced to 90 days in the slammer.

He received a nine-day credit for time he served back in February.

The “Shake Your A*s” celeb is part of  “Cash Money Records.” Its head, Birdman, is reportedly sticking with his artist all the way. He told XXL Magazine back in April, “Them little 80 days, them ain’t about nothing. We’ll be on his next single as (soon as) he comes home. From the concrete, straight to the concrete. Ya heard me.”

The 41-year-old rapper is expected to release his sixth studio album, Original, sometime this year

Sherman Hemsley, the beloved comic actor who made George Jefferson of The Jeffersons a TV icon and a household name, has reportedly died at age 74, according to sources.  He was allegedly discovered by his nurse at his home in El Paso, Texas and the cause of death is believed to be natural causes.

Hemsley first played the role of Jefferson on 1970s staple ‘All in the Family’. The character became so popular it spawned a spin-off series which ran for an at-the-time unprecedented 11 seasons (1975-1985) and was consistently one of the highest rated sitcoms on television.

The show broke barriers by portraying an upper class black family, who in the words of the show’s classic theme song had “moved on up” to a deluxe apartment in an affluent part of New York City. The show remains the longest running series featuring a predominately black cast in television history.

CHICAGO  — The man convicted in the shooting deaths of Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew is scheduled to return to court.

William Balfour’s attorneys are expected to ask the judge to grant Balfour a new trial at a hearing scheduled for Tuesday. If that request is denied, Judge Charles Burns may sentence Balfour.

A jury convicted Balfour of first-degree murder in May in the 2008 slayings. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Balfour was married to Hudson’s sister. During the trial, prosecutors argued that he shot his wife’s relatives in a jealous rage because she was dating another man.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Mariah Carey will be joining the cast of “American Idol.”

She told a meeting of the Television Critics Association that she is excited to join as a judge and it all happened quickly.

Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe earlier added uncertainty to the question of who will judge next season, saying there’s a slender possibility that Jennifer Lopez might return. His reasoning: Since she told “Idol” host Ryan Seacrest she was 99 percent sure she was leaving, that means there’s a 1 percent chance she won’t, Lythgoe said Monday.

Nate Dogg’s six children will have to decide how to divide the $200,000 in real estate left by their father, who had no will.

The number seems small, being that he was a staple in the music industry for over 20 years, but there is more potential money to be had. Nate’s musical catalog is expected to be added to the final tally which will also go to his four daughters and two sons.

His home in Pamona, Calif. was worth a reported $350,000, but he still owed $150,000 on it, leaving the children to divvy up the remaining $200,000.

As it often happens when people die young, the estate has run into financial issues, like being sued for more than $290,000 over unpaid medical bills.

Nate passed away last March from complications brought on by multiple strokes. He was 41.

ATLANTA— Kile Glover, the stepson of the Grammy award-winning pop star Usher, has died two weeks after the child was critically injured in a boating accident.

Willie A. Watkins funeral home in Atlanta confirmed Saturday it was handling funeral arrangements for 11-year-old Kile. Glover was a son of Usher’s ex-wife Tameka Foster.
It is reported that Kile died Saturday morning at an Atlanta area hospital.

The boy was run over July 6 by a personal watercraft on Lake Lanier, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. He had been hospitalized with a major brain injury. Lake Lanier is about 40 miles northeast of Atlanta.