Sean Kingston, the singer best known for his 2007 hit 'Beautiful Girls', has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for a $1m wire fraud scheme. The 35-year-old, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, was convicted in a South Florida court in March alongside his mother, Janice Turner.
The pair were found guilty of acquiring luxury items, including a bulletproof Cadillac Escalade and an Audemars Piguet watch, through falsified payments that never cleared. Turner was sentenced in July to five years in prison with three years of probation.
Court documents revealed that between April 2023 and March 2024, Kingston used social media to arrange purchases, inviting sellers to his Florida homes with promises of promotion. When payment was due, he or his mother sent fake wire receipts. During the trial, Turner admitted to falsifying wires, claiming she was protecting her son from scammers.
Kingston refused to testify, but prosecutors presented texts in which he instructed his mother to 'make a fake receipt'. Before sentencing, Kingston apologised and said he had learned from his actions. His lawyer had requested home confinement, noting the non-violent nature of the crime and that most victims had been repaid.
Kingston, born in Miami and raised in Jamaica, rose to fame with 'Beautiful Girls' and has collaborated with artists including Nicki Minaj and Chris Brown. Turner has a prior conviction for bank fraud in 2006, and the pair have faced multiple lawsuits over unpaid luxury items.
