AS BUJU BANTON, a star reggae singer, awaited a verdict on charges of conspiracy to possess and distribute five kilograms (11 pounds) of cocaine, his supporters beat drums through the night in Jamaica’s capital, Kingston, and chanted psalms in the Tampa, Florida courthouse where his case had been heard. Their prayers were not answered. On February 22nd, a jury found him guilty both on the drug count and on related gun and communications charges. He will face a minimum of 15 years in jail unless his appeal succeeds.

Buju Banton, a tall, slim and dreadlocked 37-year-old whose real name is Mark Anthony Myrie, had long been a controversial figure. His best-known song, “Boom Bye Bye”, was widely criticised for its homophobic lyrics when he released it in 1988 at the tender age of 15. But he has achieved impressive longevity for a musician: his latest album, “Before the Dawn”, won a Grammy award the day before his trial began on February 14th.

His troubles began on a flight from Madrid to Miami in July 2009. Alexander Johnson, a paid informant, was sitting in the next seat, and their talk turned to cocaine. The two kept in touch. In December, Mr Myrie was caught on video in a Florida warehouse tasting a cocaine sample from a knife. Two days later, two alleged associates of Mr Myrie’s bought $135,000 of drugs from undercover employees of America’s Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). They were arrested immediately, and Mr Myrie was held at his Florida home the next day.

At his trial, Mr Myrie admitted that he had “stupidly” discussed cocaine deals, but never intended to see them through. He said he had been simply been “too trusting”, and his lawyers argued that the DEA had entrapped him into a crime he would not otherwise have committed. His first trial on similar charges stemming from the same events fizzled out with a hung jury. But there would be no such luck this time.

In Mr Myrie’s native Jamaica, he was hailed by most as a martyred “son of the soil”, unfairly persecuted by a foreign power. His popularity has been buttressed by the marketing efforts of high-profile businesses. Just last month Landline Internet Mobile and Entertainment, the Caribbean subsidiary of Cable & Wireless, a British telecommunications company, centred a major promotion on its exclusive local television rights to Mr Myrie’s “Before the Dawn” concert, staged in Miami while he was out of prison on bail.

However, his conviction should refocus attention on the connection between Jamaica’s musicians and its dire crime problem—the country’s homicide rate, fuelled in part by the drug trade, is among the highest in the world. Jamaican song lyrics are often violent and raunchy, and too many prominent entertainers have been charged with serious offences, from murder down. In a statement published on the day Mr Myrie’s verdict was announced, the influential Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica criticised the government for failing to act on crime-fighting proposals that the group lobbied for last June. “Everyone is crying into their beer,” says one well-connected Kingston businessman. “But the salient point is that you can’t be doing drug deals and be in the music business at the same time.”

A key question is how the corporate sponsors of controversial artists will respond to the news. Diageo, the owner of Red Stripe, the dominant local brewery, withdrew its backing in 2008 for events and performers who, it said, “propagate violent and anti-social lyrics.” But two years later, Red Stripe returned as sponsor of the annual Reggae Sumfest at Montego Bay, arguing that “positive music” now “signals a new day”. Mr Myrie’s conviction suggests that “new day” may still be a ways off.