sean kingston
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Sean Kingston is now facing a hefty prison sentence after he and his mother were federally indicted and charged with wire fraud totaling $1 million.
Last Friday (July 19), singer and rapper Sean Kingston was indicted in a federal courtroom in Miami, Florida along with his mother, Janice Turner on charges connected with a $1 million wire fraud scheme. The listed charges are one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud charges with the intent to defraud victim sellers of high-end specialty vehicles, jewelry, and other goods bought with fraudulent documents. If convicted, both face a prison sentence of up to twenty years.
In their statement, the United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida said that Kingston, aka Kisean Anderson and Turner “unjustly enriched themselves by falsely representing that they had executed bank wire or other monetary payment transfers.” The businesses targeted included a car dealership, from which Kingston and Turner are alleged to have stolen a Cadillac Escalade, and one individual who alleges that the two stole $480,000 in jewelry from them.
An attorney for that individual says that Kingston’s method was “basically a script, 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.” Kingston is best known for his 2007 single “Beautiful Girls”, which spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He’s worked with Bieber, Wyclef Jean, and Nicki Minaj before stepping back from music.
The 34-year-old artist was arrested in Fort Irwin, California on May 24 which was the same day that a SWAT team and other police officers conducted a raid on Kingston’s home in the Southwest Ranches suburb of Fort Lauderdale. Turner, 61, was arrested during that raid. Both have had their issues with the law – Kingston is also accused of violating a probation sentence related to felony charges of trafficking stolen property which ends in October 2025. Turner served 16 months in prison after being convicted of filing fraudulent loan applications in 2006.
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Source: BROWARD SHERIFF’S OFFICE / Broward Sheriff’s Office
Sean Kingston will now have to defend his name in a court of law. He has been booked on defrauding over $1 million dollars in goods.
As reported by TMZ, the singer has some serious legal issues to deal with. His South Florida home was raided by police Thursday, May 23, where his mother Janice Turner was arrested. The celebrity gossip website has confirmed Sean Kingston was also arrested in Fort Irwin, California, that same day and made an agreement to be extradited back to Florida. It seems he was a man of his word and was booked at Broward County jail on Sunday, June 2.
According to the Sun Sentinel, his mother and the performer were charged on several charges including four counts of criminal use of personal identification information and three counts of grand theft. For the last couple of years the family name has been tied to multiple allegations of defrauding a jeweler, a car dealership and a luxury television vendor. Additionally, the arrest warrant claims they finessed almost $300,000 dollars from Bank of America and First Republic Bank. His lawyer Bob Rosenblatt tells BBC that both Sean Kingston and his mother plan to plead not guilty.
The man born Kisean Paul Anderson hit it big in 2007 with his single, “Beautiful Girls,” which charted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200.
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Sean Kingston and his mother, Janice Louis, are currently facing charges of committing over $1 million in fraud after the Jamaican-American artist’s home was raided. Sean Kingston has since agreed not to fight extradition to Florida after he was arrested last week at a California Army base.
Authorities in Florida recently raided the rented Fort Lauderdale home of Sean Kingston, 34, and arrested Kingston’s mother, Janice Louis, 61, without incident as reported by outlets TMZ and The Associated Press.
According to the AP, Kingston waived the right to fight extradition on Tuesday (May 28) while in court in California and will subsequently be handed over to Florida law enforcement officials. Both Kingston and Louis were charged in the alleged fraud scheme. The report adds that while Kingston did not appear in a San Bernardino court, he was still jailed as of Tuesday afternoon, and it was confirmed that officials from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office will handle his transfer to Florida to face charges.
Last week, Kingston was performing at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in the Mojave Desert. During his arrest, Louis was taken away in handcuffs in Florida after a SWAT team raided Kingston’s Florida mansion.
The charges faced by Kingston and Louis are conducting an organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, identity theft, and related crimes. Among the items that were said to be stolen included a Cadillac Escalade, furniture, jewelry, and money.
Sean Kingston recently took to Instagram to state that he and his mother are in good spirits and that his attorneys are handling the matter.
It isn’t known when the extradition will occur but we will update this story as it happens.
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It seems like Sean Kingston has once again found himself in trouble with the law and for someone who isn’t a gangsta rapper or even an R&B thug, it’s pretty remarkable that the Jamaican singer has seen central bookings more times than your favorite hardcore artist.
According to the Huffpost, the “Beautiful Girls” singer was arrested in California this past Thursday (May 23) on fraud charges after a SWAT team raided his Florida home and made off with a van filled with all kinds of items. To make matters even worse, Kingston’s 61-year-old mother, Janice Turner who actually did a prison bid for bank fraud after pleading guilty to stealing over $160,000 back in 2006.
How she may have been involved in this latest scheme is anyone’s guess, but their attorney, Robert Rosenblatt is confident the two will be exonerated once all the facts come to light saying “We look forward to addressing these in court and are confident of a successful resolution for Shawn and his mother.”
Still, it seems like Sean may have once again skipped out on another bill and is now paying the price for his transgression.
The Huffpost reports:
An attorney who witnessed his mother’s arrest said the detentions are partly related to a lawsuit he filed against Kingston in February accusing him of defrauding a Florida company that installed in his home a 232-inch (5.8 meter) television — or approximately 17 feet by 9.5 feet (5 meters by 3 meters).
“It is amazing what you can get away with if you are a celebrity,” attorney Dennis Card told The Associated Press. “He creates this larger than life, ‘I am rich’ persona. His mother is a necessary component in this. He presents himself as a family-oriented guy, ‘I’m taking care of my mom,’ but she knows full well what is going on.”
In the lawsuit, Ver Ver Entertainment says Kingston contacted the company in September about purchasing the television, sold under the brand name Colossal TV, and having it installed. The system costs $150,000.
In November, Kingston paid the company $30,000 and the TV was installed, the lawsuit says. No commercials or further payments were ever made despite numerous promises, it contends.
Man, just get yourself a big screen TV at BJ’s or Costco for under $1,000 and live your life as a free man. SMH.
Kingston has commented. “People love negative energy! I am good and so is my mother!.. my lawyers are handling everything as we speak,” he wrote on Instagram.
What do y’all think of Sean Kingston’s latest legal situation? Let us know in the comments section below.
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