Busy happy to be home

After spending the last six months in the United States facing trial for absconding bail on drug charges 10 years ago, entertainer Busy Signal is happy to be home.

"It's been a rough six million years for me for the past six months," said Busy Signal at his press conference last night that was held at the Devonshire, St Andrew.

Speaking to the guests, he explained that he spent six difficult months inside a United States prison.
"Give thanks to the most high God and the support from the media, it's been a rough six million years for me for the past six months. What I did, came back to haunt me, but my lifestyle free me up," he said.

"Mi nuh know how fi explain the feeling of being in prison for the six months because it had a negative effect on my health, life and career. It gave me a lot of knowledge. Me see people drop down dead from heart attack, I see a lot of things. I'm here giving thanks to the media and everybody who support me," he said.

The 30-year-old entertainer was extradited to the United States in June after United States authorities finally caught up with him a decade after a lawyer offered him a plea bargain that would have seen him spend five to seven years in jail for a crime he says he didn't commit. But thanks to stellar work from his attorneys K.D. Knight and Bill Mauzy, Busy, who was born Glendale Gordon, was able to return home within the same year he was extradited.

But perhaps the most important thing for him since his return was the fact that he has been able to reconnect with his family that he had not seen in all this time. "Mi get fi look inna me kids' faces, mi get fi touch mi daughter dem, me get fi kiss them, mi get fi hug dem up, me get to reach to a level where mi get to see mi family, mi immediate family, me extended family. Mi all go see me grandmother wha pray fi me since me reach in," he said.

Busy is also getting a chance to get back in touch with some good Jamaican food. In the six months he was in custody, he didn't eat well, and as a result, shed more than 30 pounds, down from a sturdy 165 to a gaunt 130 pounds.

"Me see how much food line out what me can eat now," he said. "When I was there, the food was just crazy. I fainted twice. I fell down and had blackouts twice. The doctors had to test me, gave me physicals. They took my blood pressure, they did DNA. They did everything, it was devastating," he said.

All that, he says, is behind him now, "and I can give God thanks and praise and I have to give thanks to all the fans who supported me. They did a petition thing that in the end we didn't need, but I have to give thanks for all the support," he said.

With controversy surrounding his name, Busy Signal's name has officially been changed to Reanno Devon Gordon.

Busy Signal also informed the audience that he would be visiting the Gun Court and General Penitentary facilities to visit inmates and motivate them.

Busy, who says he wants to start recording immediately, gives all praise to K.D. Knight who advised him to waive his rights to an extradition hearing so that the matter could be expedited quickly, and his US attorney Bill Mauzy who flew to Jamaica and prepared a 47-minute testimonial of his life that was presented to the judge in Minnesota and who saw that he had lived a clean life in the past decade and understood his circumstances.

Busy will now focus on getting his weight back up and getting his career back on track. "All this can fix," he said referring to his weight loss. As far as he is concerned, he is back where he wants to be, home.

"Mi jus waan get back to mi life, get back to mi career, but mi nah go mek no bag a jail song," he said.

Although he is undecided about which show he will perform on, Busy Signal did confirm that he will be performing in Jamaica in December. This will be his first show in the country in four years.

(from Jamaica Star)