Source: Johnny Louis / Getty / Sean Kingston
If convicted, Kingston and his momma are looking at up to 20 years in prison.
The 34-year-old singer, born Kisean Anderson, and his 61-year-old mother, Janice Turner, both appeared in court to face the judge following their May arrests.
They both were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud charges as part of their alleged involvement in a scheme that scammed sellers out of high-end vehicles, jewelry, and other goods bought using fraudulent documents.
Per
Variety:
The United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida stated that the defendants “unjustly enriched themselves by falsely representing that they had executed bank wire or other monetary payment transfers.” According to the Office, the alleged scheme involved making payments through banks that never actually went through, resulting in them accruing an excess of $1 million in property.
Kingston’s arrest went down in May in California following a raid on his luxurious South Florida mansion, where his mother was thrown in cuffs for involvement.
The singer was taken into custody without incident hours after his mother’s arrest during the raid.
The raid resulted from a victim’s lawsuit alleging Kingston was not paying for luxury items. His mother already had legal issues hovering over her head due to bank fraud and false loan applications.
How Sean Kingston Allegedly Lured In His Victims
Kingston rose to prominence thanks to his 2007 hit single “Beautiful Girls.” The song spawned a remix featuring
Fabolous and
Boosie Badazz.
Kingston also collaborated with Justin Bieber, and
according to the victim’s attorney, Kingston made sure to use that fact in a script for his scheme.
“He says that he works with Justin Bieber and obviously puts on a big show here, this is a rental house, he doesn’t own it, and he lures people using his celebrity into having them release things without him paying for it and then he simply never pays,” the victim’s attorney alleges.
Damn.
The gallery below shows reactions to Kingston’s momma possibly being locked up for a decade.
