On Tuesday Tina Johnson-Finn was cleared of all charges surrounding an event at which she was hired to impersonate Toni Braxton. Judge Robby Rodrigues ruled it was not clear whether the Las Vegas singer knew whether or not concert goes had been led to believe that she was really Braxton.


Johnson-Finn and her husband Raymond Finn had long insisted since February that they like the Suriname people were duped by concert promoter Angel Ventura and his girlfriend, Signet Sampson.

They are expected to stand trial in July. Ventura initially said that Johnson-Finn knew about the scam from the beginning, according to police, but he later retracted that allegation.

fter three months in a Suriname jail, Trina Johnson-Finn, a Las Vegas entertainer accused of posing as Toni Braxton at a concert in February, was released by a judge Friday. But she could face more jail time today.



Johnson-Finn had long insisted that she was contracted to play the part of Braxton for a private party organized by Concert promoter Angel Ventura and his girlfriend, Signet ampson. But the event, Raymond Finn, Johnson-Finn`s husband, said turned in to a publicly promoted concert they were unaware of.

Only at the concert did they realize that Ventura and Sampson had actually sold tickets for a public event featuring the `real` Toni Braxton. Despite protesting their innocence, the Finns were jailed in February but Raymond Finn was released after two weeks in jail while prosecutors kept Johnson-Finn jailed.

Ventura and his girlfriend are expected to stand trial in July. Ventura initially said that Johnson-Finn knew about the scam from the beginning, according to police but later said she was not involved in the scheme.

Johnson-Finn is set to be present at her sentencing today and prosecutors have requested she serve a one-year sentence with nine months of it suspended, meaning that she could be released on time served.

Concert promoter Angel Ventura and his girlfriend, Signet Sampson, are expected to stand trial in July.

Here's the latest on the case of the Toni Braxton impersonator stuck in a Suriname jail:

An examining judge in Suriname on Monday again refused to release an American singer who has been jailed on the CARICOM nation since February while the promoter who hired her remains on the lam. CWNN has learnt that the judge granted the Public Prosecutor's request to detain Trina Johnson Finn for yet another 30 days as they build a case. The singer has been detained since February 29th. Johnson-Finn was hired as a Toni Braxton impersonator for a February 28th concert by Angel Ventura promotions, according to a copy of a contract obtained by CWNN. But Ventura, according to reports, promoted the concert as a Toni Braxton performance, leading to riots and looting by concert goers who shelled out for the event. Ray Finn, Johnson Finn`s husband, was also jailed for two weeks but subsequently released. He says his wife is being `scapegoated` by Suriname authorities while the real culprits remain free. `Over the month Trina has been sitting in a Suriname jail, not one single local citizen has been questioned, detained or taken into custody by the local authorities,` said Finn. `We are talking about people who promoted, advertised, sold tickets to the event for over a month before my wife's arrival in Suriname. We are talking about people who provided government sponsored permits to the promoter to secure a public facility, to secure permission to sell alcohol at a public facility, to secure armed private security for a public facility, etc. We are talking people who have later admitted having previous business and personal relationships with the promoter and his girlfriend. This stinks of local corruption and payoff!` Finn is now organizing a protest march for later this month on the Suriname embassies in D.C. and Miami and on Capitol Hill. `These coordinated marches are being held in association with INTAAP (International Network of Talent Agents and Producers) and many from the Tribute Artist / Celebrity Impersonator industry as well as many family, friends and members of our extended network,` he told CWNN by email last night. A tentative trial date has been set for May 7, 2009.

Source

Friday saw the launch of the first annual four-day music and entertainment event dubbed ‘Lime 2008’ (Live Music and Entertainment 2008) in Suriname. The event was organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KKF). It featured several stages with musical entertainment, there were also several booths with local artisans and craftsmen.