A federal jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, found singer and rapper Sean Kingston and his mother, Janice Turner, guilty on all charges Friday evening in their luxury fraud scheme trial.
Turner was taken into custody immediately, while Kingston, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, was ordered on house arrest until sentencing.
Kingston and Turner were each convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. They now await sentencing. They face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison on each count.
Prosecutors accused the pair of running a scheme in which they obtained high-end items—including a luxury SUV, jewelry, expensive watches and a wall-sized TV — without paying for them.
In May, the Broward Sheriff’s Office raided Kingston’s home in Southwest Ranches, Florida, as part of the investigation.
Authorities presented evidence showing that Kingston and Turner sent fake wire transfer receipts to sellers as proof of payment.
A key piece of evidence was a text message from Kingston to his mother, which read: “I told you to make [a] fake receipt,” followed by, “so it [looks] like the transfer will be there in a couple [of] days.”
During closing arguments, Turner’s attorney argued that the alleged victims were “fraudsters” themselves, while Kingston’s attorney attempted to distinguish between the rapper’s public image and his personal life.
He described Kingston as “a soft guy who grew up poor when he rose to fame overnight,” adding that he had “no idea how to run a business [and] no idea how much money is in his bank account.”
Kingston was first arrested on May 23, 2024, at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California’s Mojave Desert where he was performing. He waived his right to fight the extradition and was returned to Florida.
The two also face similar state charges.
The Jamaican American performer had a No. 1 hit with “Beautiful Girls” in 2007 and collaborated with Justin Bieber on the song “Eenie Meenie.”