Sean Kingston and his mother, Janice Turner, have been found guilty of both federal fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud after a four-day trial.
Steven Lawton
The 35-year-old “Beautiful Girls” singer was placed on house arrest while his mother, who was considered a flight risk by the judge, was taken into custody. The pair’s trial kicked off on March 24, and closing arguments took place on March 28. The jury only took three and a half hours to reach their decision. Additionally, Kingston must make good on a surety bond of a home valued at $500,000 and $200,000 in cash. The fraudulent fam will face sentencing on July 11.
A jury convicted Kingston and Turner of defrauding several business owners, including multiple fine jewelers, a television installation company, and a luxury car dealership. The court determined that the total sum of the items the pair accumulated exceeded $1 million. In a raid on a home owned by Kingston, law enforcement recovered all of the items, according to Local 10 News. During the trial, the judge determined that Turner was the “fixer, the nerve center” of the pair’s criminal activities. noting that she has past similar convictions on her record. She also chose to take the stand while her son’s legal team painted him as a “child” who had no clue about what was happening. Kingston did not testify during the trial.
Though free-ish for now, the “Letting Go” singer faces up to 20 years in prison for his part in the scamming. Upon hearing the news that his 62-year-old mother would remain in custody, Kingston cried out to US Marshals to “protect my mother” as he was led out of the courtroom. During the trial, victims of Turner and Kingston’s fraud testified that they lost much more than just merchandise to the pair’s crimes. Fort Lauderdale-based jeweler, Moshe Edery, claimed that he lost credibility when he tried to cash in a fake wire transfer from Kingston for a $285,000 Audemars Piguet perpetual calendar watch at the bank. When the bank said the transfer did not appear to be real, Edery recalled thinking, “I’m being scammed.”
As previously reported, Kingston has had several run-ins with the law over the alleged theft of items he pretended to purchase. In 2015, he was kidnapped following a failure to pay for jewelry from Avianne Jewelers, and Avi Da Jewelers sued him for $356,000 worth of unpaid merchandise. In 2018, Kingston was ordered to pay $301,500 to a NYC-based jewelry store after he wrote two checks that could not be cashed due to insufficient funds and tried running out on the bill for nine custom pieces. He was charged with grand theft after having jewelry delivered to his home and then refusing to pay up in 2020. Seems he’s the king of taking “ain’t nobody gone stop my shine” a little too far.
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