Rapper Sean Kingston to be sentenced for $1M fraud scheme in South Florida
Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, and his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, were each convicted by a federal jury in March of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud.
US Judge David Leibowitz sentenced Turner last month to five years in prison, but Kingston's sentencing was rescheduled.
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4 Kingston's mother Janice Eleanor Turner was sentenced to 5 years in prison for her role.
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4 The Broward County Sheriff's Office and Davie Police SWAT served arrest and search warrants at the luxurious Southwest Ranches property as part of an investigation.
CBS News
Kingston, 35, and his mother were arrested in May 2024 after a SWAT team raided Kingston's rented mansion in suburban Fort Lauderdale.
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Turner was taken into custody during the raid, while Kingston was arrested at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California's Mojave Desert, where he was performing.
According to court records, Kingston used social media from April 2023 to March 2024 to arrange purchases of high-end merchandise.
After negotiating deals, Kingston would invite the sellers to one of his high-end Florida homes and promise to feature them and their products on social media.
4 Sean Kingston's mugshot after he was booked into Florida's Broward County Jail on June 3, 2024.
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4 Turner, 62, was accused by the judge of being the 'fixer and nerve center' in charge of the scheme as her past convictions for similar crimes painted her as in charge of the scheme.
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Investigators said that when it came time to pay, Kingston or his mother would text the victims fake wire receipts for the luxury merchandise, which included a bulletproof Escalade, watches and a 19-foot LED TV, investigators said.
When the funds never cleared, victims often contacted Kingston and Turner repeatedly, but were either never paid or received money only after filing lawsuits or contacting law enforcement.
Kingston shot to fame at age 17 with the 2007 hit 'Beautiful Girls,' which laid his lyrics over Ben E. King's 1961 song 'Stand By Me.'
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