Sean Kingston has been sentenced to a few and a half years in jail by a Florida courtroom for a $1m wire fraud scheme, in line with NBC South Florida.
The 35-year-old singer, born Kisean Anderson, was discovered responsible in a South Florida courtroom in March alongside his mom, Janice Turner, for accruing about $1m price of luxurious gadgets via falsified funds that by no means cleared. Turner was sentenced in July to 5 years in jail with three years of probation.
The 2 have been initially arrested in Could 2024 on theft fees after a Swat raid on Kingston’s South Florida mansion. Investigators advised the courtroom that Kingston used social media from April 2023 to March 2024 to rearrange purchases of luxurious gadgets, and invited sellers to his Florida properties with the promise to characteristic them and their merchandise on his accounts. When it got here time to pay for the gadgets, resembling a bulletproof Cadillac Escalade or an Audemars Piguet watch, Kingston or his mom texted the sellers pretend wire receipts.
Throughout her trial, Turner admitted to falsifying wires for her son, which she claimed was an effort to guard him from scammers by delaying funds for luxurious gadgets. Kingston refused to testify. As proof, the prosecution offered texts from Kingston to his mom that learn “I advised you to make [a] pretend receipt” adopted by “so it [looks] just like the switch will likely be there in a pair [of] days”.
Earlier than the choose delivered his sentence, Kingston apologized and stated he had discovered from his actions, in line with the Associated Press. His lawyer had beforehand requested the choose for residence confinement, because of the non-violent nature of the crime and the truth that Kingston had paid again most people he defrauded.
Born in Miami and raised in his dad and mom’ native Kingston, Jamaica, the singer stays most well-known for his 2007 single Lovely Women, which topped the Billboard charts. He has launched 4 albums and collaborated with the likes of Nicki Minaj and Chris Brown. In 2011, he scored a modest hit with Justin Bieber on the observe Eenie Meenie.
In keeping with federal courtroom data, Turner pleaded responsible in 2006 to financial institution fraud for stealing over $160,000, and served practically 18 months in jail. Turner and Kingston have been sued a number of instances for failure to pay for luxurious gadgets, most just lately by a Florida leisure methods firm in February 2024.
