Beenie Man Fined $150,000 For Breaching DRMA

Dancehall star Beenie Man was slapped with a $150,000 fine in the St Elizabeth Parish Court today after pleading guilty earlier on April 19th for breaching the Disaster Risk Management Act (DRMA).

“Beenie Man was fined $150,000 and the maximum fine at the time the offense was committed was $250,000, so we can live with that,” the deejay’s attorney-at-law, Roderick Gordon, told DancehallMag.

An additional charge of breaching the Noise Abatement Act was thrown out during the deejay’s last court appearance.

The Sim Simma deejay had been slapped with the two charges in connection to an event in the Shrewsbury district, in the St. Elizabeth parish on November 29. The Black River police turned up at the location, dispersed the crowd, and Beenie was warned for prosecution.

The 47-year-old singer’s promotion of a subsequent New Year’s Eve party in December further earned the ire of police in the St Elizabeth Parish. He was summoned to a Police Station on January 1, where he was charged for breaching protocols with the November 29 party.

Dancehall artists Fantan Mojah and Elephant Man are also before the courts on similar charges.

Beenie Man, 47, is set to release a new album this summer titled Simma. “We are releasing 14 tracks, but we might put on bonus tracks so it may be between 16 to 18 if we decide to do that. We plan to tour the album when the pandemic is over and live shows return in the US and Europe,” his manager has said.

Simma, Beenie’s first studio project in 13 years, will be his 19th album and follows his last, Undisputed.