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US music star faces ‘decades’ behind bars

Sean Kingston has sobbed in court as he and his mum were found guilty in a $1 million fraud case that could land them behind bars for decades.

The “Beautiful Girls” singer broke down with clasped hands as a jury in Fort Lauderdale federal court convicted him and his mother Janice Turner of all five charges related to a massive wire fraud scam.

According to local outlets, the rapper begged officials as US Marshals took Turner into custody, crying: “Protect my mother.”

The duo were found guilty of swindling more than $1 million from car dealerships, banks, jewellers, and even a mattress company using fake documents to score luxury goods, including a bulletproof Escalade and a colossal TV.

Turner, 62, was dubbed the “fixer and nerve centre” of the scheme by the judge.

She was ordered to be held in Broward County Jail after being deemed a flight risk.

The court heard Turner had previous form, serving 18 months behind bars after stealing more than $160,000 in a 2006 bank fraud case.

 

Sean Kingston and his mother have been found guilty of fraud and are facing years in prison. Picture: Supplied.
Sean Kingston and his mother have been found guilty of fraud and are facing years in prison. Picture: Supplied.

 

 

The mugshot of Janice Turner, mother of rapper Sean Kingston. Picture: Supplied.
The mugshot of Janice Turner, mother of rapper Sean Kingston. Picture: Supplied.

 

Meanwhile, Kingston, 35, was placed under house arrest with strict bond conditions, including a $200,000 surety in cash and putting up a relative’s $500,000 home.

He also has to be fitted with an electronic monitor until the sentencing.

The rapper, real name Kisean Anderson, did not take the stand in his own defence.

His lawyers painted him as a “child” who recklessly spent money without understanding how it worked, the New York Post reports.

Prosecutors slammed the pair for “unjustly enriching themselves”, tricking victims into handing over high-end items with fake wire transfer promises.

Victims testified they were duped out of nearly half a million in jewellery, a $232-inch Colossal TV, and tens of thousands more from multiple banks and dealerships between October 2023 and March 2024.

Florida-based jeweller Mosche Edery told the court how he lost his reputation after being “scammed” when Kingston said he transferred $368,000 and it failed to go through.

He said the singer and his mother faked the transfer for a high-end watch and lied to him about helping him grow his business by introducing him to other celebrities, per a report by TMZ.

The trial lasted just four days and the jury deliberated for three and a half hours before agreeing on the guilty verdict.

On the first day of the trial, Turner was seen exiting the courthouse clutching a Bible.

The scam was exposed following a civil lawsuit filed in February by Ver Ver Entertainment, who claimed Kingston promised to promote a $111,000 sound system - a deal that never happened.

 

 

Singer Kingston enjoyed a series of smash hits in the 2010s. Picture: Getty.
Singer Kingston enjoyed a series of smash hits in the 2010s. Picture: Getty.


Dennis Card, the lawyer representing Ver Ver Entertainment, called Kingston a scammer.

“He basically has a sales pitch that he goes through to defraud people,” Card told ABC affiliate WPLG.

“He induces them into giving him really expensive things.”

Card accused Kingston of running an ongoing pattern of deception.

Kingston and Turner were previously forced to pay out over $300,000 in two separate lawsuits.

One was in 2015 for failing to pay a custom watch seller, and another three years later in 2018 for scamming a New York jeweller out of nine pieces.

Federal agents raided Kingston’s South Florida mansion on May 23 last year, where all items were seized and his mother was arrested on the spot.

The rapper was later cuffed in California after a gig at Fort Irwin for the US Army.

Hours after the raid, cops said: “This evening, police in Fort Irwin, CA, arrested Kisean Anderson, aka Sean Kingston without incident on a Broward Sheriff’s Office arrest warrant for numerous fraud and theft charges”.

He was already on probation for trafficking stolen property at the time, the NY Post reports.

The guilty pair now each face up to 20 years behind bars for each of the five counts they have been found guilty of.

Sentencing is set for around 11am on July 11.

Each of their sentences will be impacted based on previous criminal behaviour and co-operation with law enforcement.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission.

Author: Emma Crabtree - The Sun

Source: News Corp Australia Network:

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