Sean Kingston Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
Sean Kingston and his mother, Janice Turner, have been indicted on allegations of wire fraud.
Kingston, 34, and Turner, 61, are accused of pressuring multiple businesses to give them goods that had not yet been paid for, claiming that the money for the items had been wired and was in transit.
A federal grand jury in Miami charged both Kinsgton and Turner on five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Florida claims the mother-son duo “unjustly enriched themselves” to the tune of more than $1 million “by falsely representing that they had executed bank wire or other monetary payment transfers.
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”Prosecutors allege that Kingston – whose legal name is Kisean Anderson – and Turner used fraudulent documents to pressure dealers of luxury vehicles, jewelry and other high-end items to hand over goods before they had received a full payment.
The “Beautiful Girls” singer was released on a $10,000 cash bond on Friday, July 19. His mother was released on a $5,000 cash bond the same day. They are both due in court for their next appearance on August 9.
Us Weekly has reached out to Kingston’s representatives for comment.
Kingston and Turner were arrested on similar state-level charges in May. Turner was taken into custody following a SWAT raid of Kingston’s Fort Lauderdale-area home and the crooner Kingston was arrested in California shortly thereafter.
Kingston is facing a civil lawsuit over a similar alleged scheme. An attorney for the plaintiff in that lawsuit told NBC 6 Miami that he uses Kingston “basically a script…and he lures people using his celebrity into having them release things without him paying for it and then he simply never pays.”
Kingston charged onto the pop airwaves in 2007 with a trio of hit singles from his self-titled debut album. “Beautiful Girls” and “Take You There” both cracked the top 10 in the US, with the former spending four weeks at number 1.
“Fire Burning” off of Kingston’s sophomore album Tomorrow saw similar success, but never again breached the top 10. Subsequent collaborations with Justin Bieber (“Eenie Meenie”) and Nicki Minaj (“Letting Go (Dutty Love)”) saw moderate success. His third album, 2013’s Back 2 Life, failed to produce any singles that made the top half of the Billboard Hot 100. His most recent album was 2022’s Road to Deliverance.