Bob Marley's daughter pleads guilty to possessing marijuana plants

The daughter of the late reggae icon Bob Marley does not trumpet her famous father, but she shares some of his beliefs - ones that have landed her in trouble, her attorney said Wednesday.

Makeda J. Marley, 29, of Chester County, pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing a passel of marijuana plants - 11 mature, three juvenile - and to tampering with evidence when police came to her Caln Township residence on Sept. 8, 2008.

Lawyer Thomas K. Schindler said that his client, like her father, believes marijuana has religious value.

"She doesn't go around telling people she's Bob Marley's daughter, but if it comes up, she acknowledges it," Schindler said. "It troubles her that this is illegal."

The elder Marley, whose hits included "One Love," "Buffalo Soldier," and "I Shot the Sheriff," died of cancer in 1981 at 36. He practiced Rastafarianism, a faith that generally regards Africa as the promised land and the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I as a divine figure. Some Rastafarians smoke marijuana as a sacrament.

Were it not for family ties, Makeda Marley probably would have moved to an area more accepting of marijuana use, Schindler said. But her mother and the father of her 5-year-old son live in this area, he said.

According to the criminal complaint, Marley, who awaits trial on drunken-driving charges, let police search her basement and went to get a key, but was then seen trying to remove a plant from the premises.

Schindler said Marley's Oct. 25 sentencing by Chester County Court Judge Thomas G. Gavin may be lively.

"I think the prosecutor [Assistant District Attorney Carlos Barraza] will argue for jail time. I'm going to present a number of people who know her," Schindler said.

He described his client as a devoted mother and accomplished ceramist with dreams of running a bed-and-breakfast.