Marley's daughter pleads guilty to pot charges

[SuperSizeMe]

By MICHAEL P. RELLAHAN
Staff Writer
-- The daughter of legendary reggae musician Bob Marley pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that she grew marijuana in her Caln home and had tried to get rid of it as police stood outside the house.

Makeda Jahnesta Marley, the youngest of the star’s 13 acknowledged children, had almost a dozen full marijuana plants and three smaller ones in the basement of her home when police were called there for the report of a dispute almost two years ago to the day of her plea.

Police caught Marley, 29, trying to sneak the plants out of the basement while they stood by with a man to whom she had sublet the house, owned by friends of Marley’s, with whom she was arguing.

She pleaded guilty to charges of manufacture of a controlled substance and tampering with physical evidence at a brief hearing in front of Judge Tomas G. Gavin. Dressed in a white blouse and black pants, Marley was accompanied by her attorney, Thomas Schindler of West Chester.

A formal sentencing hearing will be held in October after the competition of a pre-sentencing report.

Assistant District Attorney Carlos Barraza, who is prosecuting the case, said that he had agreed to withdraw a mandatory one-year prison sentence for the amount of marijuana Marley had in her basement in return for the guilty plea. A trial had been scheduled to start Tuesday in the case. Marley did not make any statement in court Tuesday, simply responding yes or no to Gavin’s questions about the rights she was giving up by entering the plea.

Marley still faces the possibility of jail time for the charges. State sentencing guidelines call for a possible sentence of between probation and a minimum of nine months in county prison.

Marley, 28, is a graduate of Coatesville Area Senior High School and West Chester University. She was born in Miami on May 31, 1981, less than three weeks after her famous father died of cancer in that same city. Her mother, Yvette Crichton, is the last of several women with whom Bob Marley is officially recognized as fathering a child with in addition to his widow, Rita Marley. Bob Marley has extensive family ties in Delaware.

According to some published reports, Makeda Marley was a regular at Rita Marley’s house in Jamaica and later became a beneficiary of the Marley estate. She told Gavin earlier this year, however, that she had used up the proceeds of her estate and that she worked as a waitress in the county.

Her father was an enormously popular and influential musician and helped promote not only reggae music, with songs such as “I Shot the Sheriff,” “Stir It Up,” “No Woman, No Cry,” and “One Love,” but also brought attention to the Rastafarian movement, whose followers worship the late Ethiopian leader Haile Selassie and use marijuana as an aid to spiritual enlightenment. Followers were known by their wild dreadlocks and large marijuana “spliffs.”

Caln police said they took 11 marijuana plants, plus a variety of instruments used to grow the illegal drug, which Marley’s father, a habitual marijuana user who popularized the drug as “Kaya” or “ganja,” championed, from her home in Caln on Sept. 10, 2008.

According to a police complaint in her case, officers were called to the home where Marley had lived for about 18 months for a call concerning a domestic dispute.

When they arrived, officers found Marley arguing with a man named Howard Stinson, who sublet a room from Marley at the house. She was demanding that he leave and he wanted to get his belongings, including a washer and dryer he said was in the basement.

According to police, when they asked Marley if Stinson could get into the basement to retrieve his property, she said that the door to the basement was locked and she did not have the key, which she claimed was in California with a friend. When the officers suggested that the matter was civil in nature and that they would not interfere, Stinson allegedly blurted out that Marley was growing marijuana in the basement.

When the officers told Marley they would allow Stinson to break down the door to the basement to get his washer and dryer if he decided to, she suggested that she might be able to get a key from her friends’ parents in Sadsburyville.

While she left the scene with her son, the officers waited and spoke with their supervisor and a member of the district attorney’s office about ways they could legally search the property for evidence of marijuana cultivation. At some point, however, Stinson went to the back of the house and then came back to tell the police that Marley was in the rear of the house, getting rid of the marijuana plants.

When they investigated, Beach and Carboni told Gavin they saw her in the backyard with a marijuana plant at her side. “She said she was trying to get the plants out of the house before we searched the basement,” Carboni said.

Marley was taken into custody and later signed a consent form allowing the officers to search the home.

Marley had sought to have the search declared illegal, but Gavin ruled against her motion in July. He also said that her statement about trying to dispose of the plants could be used against her at trial.

Simple domestic dispute turned into a disaster with these fucked up laws.

She broke Rule # 1

 

[FieldMarshal420]

Simple domestic dispute turned into a disaster with these fucked up laws.

She broke Rule # 1

Why didn't she let the guy have his stuff in the first place? I have very little sympathy for people who bring this crap on themselves.

 

[Phedrosbenny]

Somebody ought to whip Stinsons ASS.Rat cheese eating motherfuckers are a waste of oxygen.We should "Conserve" our air...Go green.....LOLs

 

[Phedrosbenny]

Why didn't she let the guy have his stuff in the first place? I have very little sympathy for people who bring this crap on themselves.

He didnt want his stuff.He was pissed and using her grow against her with the cops..notice how he "blurted" it out when they suggested it was a civil matter?..Thats because they were gonna leave and the snitch knew it.

 

[Magic Man]

Well DUHHHHHHHHHHHH she was growing herb
Howard Stinson you a snitch ass sucka

 

[guest456mpy]

He didnt want his stuff.He was pissed and using her grow against her with the cops..notice how he "blurted" it out when they suggested it was a civil matter?..Thats because they were gonna leave and the snitch knew it.

Yikes, karma ain't gonna be kind to him!

 

[Puddin'tane]

Simple domestic dispute turned into a disaster with these fucked up laws.

noo woman nooo cry

 

[Big D]

hopefully one day that guy goes to jail and everyone knows he snitched on Bob Marley's daughter.

 

[kyndone]

ya, that is messed up he would snitch on her like that, thats something a little kid would do when he doesnt get his way., but he wasnt a kid., i would have had assult charges as well as the weed, when i knocked all of that stinson guys teeth out., but the right thing to have done was just give him his stuff back, b-4 it got to that point. imo., im sure that dude will get what he deserves.

 

[teemu shalanie]

yeah mon! u think her" growin up " marley would of schooled her a lil in these matters , not to rent to bitch ass clowns, Im sure she could ve done another lil grow in stinsons room, instead lol.,
snitchs get stichs stinson

peace TS

 

[InvisibleEmpire]

A.) Growing marijuana with someone else in the house who's clearly not involved in any way - extremely stupid and bad idea

B.) Arguing with said person will only logically lead to the police being called, again an extremely stupid and bad idea.

C.) Just because she's the daughter of Bob Marley doesn't make her 'intelligent' when it comes to marijuana or whatever else.

D.) She could have politely talked to her 'roommate', i mean, 12 plants she's GOTTA be stoned all the time...why so angry? Talk to the dude, give him his shit, and that woulda been that. But nope!