Hitmaker Sean Kingston and his mother, Janice Turner, are facing up to 20 years in prison for each of six federal charges — five of wire fraud and one of conspiracy to commit wire fraud — they were indicted on by a Miami grand jury for their involvement in a million-dollar scheme.
Following his arrest in May on theft charges after a SWAT raid of his Fort Lauderdale mansion resulting in Turner's arrest, the artist born Kisean Anderson appeared in court last Friday (July 19) alongside his mother. As per a press release from the Southern District of Florida's District Attorney's Office, the pair's charges stem from their "involvement in a scheme to defraud victim sellers of high-end specialty vehicles, jewelry, and other goods purchased by the defendants through the use of fraudulent documents."
The Andersons are alleged to have "unjustly enriched themselves," obtaining an excess of over $1 million USD in property — stealing over $500,000 in jewelry, more than $200,000 from Bank of America, $160,000 from a Cadillac Escalade dealer, more than $100,000 from First Republic Bank, and $86,000 from a customized bed-maker between October 2023 and March 2024 — through false representation of having executed bank wire or other monetary forms of payment transfers.
The singer, who initially rose to prominence with his 2007 smash "Beautiful Girls," was already serving a two-year probation sentence for trafficking stolen property. According to federal court records, his mother previously served 1.5 years in prison, entering a guilty plea for bank fraud in 2006 after stealing more than $160,000.
Sean Kingston's most recent musical release is a collaboration with Kam Shah, B Harry and ShakariGhost from earlier this month, aptly titled "Mula." Last year, he opened for TLC and Shaggy's co-headlining tour.