Singer-rapper Sean Kingston has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison after being convicted in a $1 million (over Rs 8.6 crore) fraud scheme. A federal jury found that Kingston and his mother used his celebrity status to trick sellers into giving him luxury items, which he never paid for.
According to a report in AP, Kingston, whose real name is Kisean Paul Anderson, was convicted in March along with his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner.
Turner received a five-year prison sentence last month. The two were found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud.
Born in Florida and raised in Jamaica, Kingston rose to international fame at 17 with his 2007 chartbuster “Beautiful Girls.” He later delivered hits such as “Take You There” and “Fire Burning.”
Rapper sentenced to 3.5 years in jail
Before US Judge David Leibowitz announced the sentence in a South Florida courtroom, Kingston apologised and said he had learned from his mistakes. His lawyer requested that he be allowed to surrender later due to health issues, but the judge ordered him into custody immediately.
The AP report further mentioned that Assistant US Attorney Marc Anton described Kingston as someone “addicted to his celebrity lifestyle even though he could no longer afford to maintain it.” He added, “He clearly doesn’t like to pay and relies on his celebrity status to defraud his victims. He is a thief and a conman, plain and simple.”
Kingston reportedly followed this pattern for years, pressuring sellers into giving him expensive items like a bulletproof Escalade, luxury watches, and even a 19-foot LED television, and then refusing to pay. Investigators revealed that Kingston and his mother often sent victims fake wire transfer receipts to make it appear as if payment had been made.
Defense attorney Zeljka Bozanic argued that the 35-year-old rapper still had the mentality of a teenager, the age at which he shot to fame. “No one showed him how to invest his money. Money went in and money went out on superficial things,” Bozanic said. The lawyer added that Kingston had already begun paying back victims and intended to return every cent after his release.
Judge Leibowitz, however, dismissed the idea that Kingston was naive but acknowledged that he had accepted responsibility by not testifying and risking a false statement.
Rapper and his mother's arrest
Kingston and his mother were arrested in May 2024 after a SWAT team raided his rented mansion in Fort Lauderdale. Turner was detained during the raid, while Kingston was taken into custody at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California, where he was performing.
Court records showed that between April 2023 and March 2024, Kingston used social media to negotiate deals with sellers, luring them by promising to promote their products on his social platforms.
