I just found this library http://code.google.com/p/freetype-gl/
Have u give it a try and what do you think about it ?
My first impression is it seems to be nice
JOGL 2.0 contains similar features (and more) in its new shader-based text renderer as far as I know. Its legacy renderer already allows to display texts by using VBOs. Most of 3D engines in Java (supporting both JOGL and LWJGL) already provides similar features too.