Singer Sean Kingston has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison by a Florida court for orchestrating a $1m wire fraud scheme. The 35-year-old, born Kisean Anderson, was convicted in March alongside his mother, Janice Turner, for acquiring luxury items through falsified payments.
Kingston and Turner were arrested in May 2024 after a SWAT raid on his South Florida mansion. Investigators said that between April 2023 and March 2024, Kingston used social media to arrange purchases of high-end goods, promising sellers exposure on his accounts. When payment was due, he or his mother sent fake wire receipts for items including a bulletproof Cadillac Escalade and an Audemars Piguet watch.
Turner, who admitted to falsifying wires for her son, was sentenced in July to five years in prison followed by three years of probation. During the trial, prosecutors presented texts from Kingston to his mother reading: 'I told you to make [a] fake receipt' and 'so it [looks] like the transfer will be there in a couple [of] days'. Kingston did not testify.
Before sentencing, Kingston apologised and said he had learned from his actions. His lawyer had requested home confinement, citing the non-violent nature of the crime and that most victims had been repaid. Kingston, best known for his 2007 hit 'Beautiful Girls', has also collaborated with Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and Chris Brown.
Court records show Turner pleaded guilty to bank fraud in 2006 for stealing over $160,000 and served nearly 18 months. Both have faced multiple lawsuits for non-payment, most recently in February 2024 from a Florida entertainment systems company.
