After being convicted of a $1 million wire fraud, US rapper Sean Kingston and his mum could face up to 20 years in prison for the crime. The pair were found guilty after falsely claiming to pay for luxury goods such as cars and jewellery, as well as swindling several banks, all by pretending to make bank transfers that were never processed.
The trial, which lasted a few days from March 24 to March 28 in Broward County, Florida came to an end when the jury reached their guilty verdict after three and a half hours, which then saw the rapper breaking down in tears and crying out for protection for his mother, Janice Turner.
While the Beautiful Girls singer did not testify during the trial, he cried out “protect my mother” as US Marshalls took Turner into custody, as reported by The New York Post. The pair were convicted of all five charges they faced stemming from their May 2024 and federal prosecutors allege Kingston and Turner attempted to defraud their victims by using fraudulent documents in exchange for over one million dollars worth of luxury items.
The 35-year-old rapper, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, was reportedly crying with his hands clasped as the jury read its verdict inside the Fort Lauderdale federal court, WPLG reported. He was placed under house arrest with bond conditions of a $200,000 surety bond in cash and also had to put up a relative’s $500,000 house as part of the bond requirement.
Both Kingston and Turner are set to be sentenced in July 2025, and each could face up to 20 years in prison on each charge. However, the final sentences could be influenced by factors like their cooperation and prior criminal history.
The arrests came from a civil lawsuit filed against the rapper by Ver Ver Entertainment LLC in February 2024 that sought payment of damages for breach of contract and fraud after Kingston ordered the 232-inch Colossal TV and a sound system for his home. The Post further detailed that to lower the price of the $111,000 purchase, Kingston supposedly promised to make promotional videos about the products with his friend, Justin Bieber, the suit said, however, the commercials were never made and Bieber was never involved.
Some of the charges show that the rapper and his mum are accused of defrauding a car dealership out of $160,000 (£123,000) for a Cadillac Escalade, stealing nearly $500,000 (£386,000) worth of jewellery, and obtaining other goods like a custom bed valued at $86,000 (£66,000) without paying for them.
Both Kingston and Turner have had legal problems in the past. Turner had been convicted of bank fraud back in 2006 and served almost 18 months in prison. Kingston, who is 35, was already on probation for a previous crime when he was arrested in this case.
Sean rose to fame due to his 2007 debut single Beautiful Girls, which reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart at the time. He then went on to release a number of singles, Tomorrow (2009) and Back 2 Life (2013). Fire Burning, and is also known for his Beat It, featuring Chris Brown and Wiz Khalifa.
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