Singer Sean Kingston was on Friday sentenced to three and a half years in prison after being convicted of a $1 million fraud scheme in which he exploited his celebrity status to obtain luxury items without paying for them.
Kingston, whose real name is Kisean Paul Anderson, and his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, were convicted in March by a federal jury on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. Turner received a five-year prison sentence last month.
Before US Judge David Leibowitz delivered the sentence, Kingston apologised in a South Florida courtroom and said he had learned from his actions. His lawyer requested that he be allowed to self-surrender later due to health issues, but the judge ordered his immediate remand.
Wearing a black suit and white shirt, Kingston removed his jacket before being handcuffed and led away.
Assistant US Attorney Marc Anton described Kingston as a man consumed by his celebrity lifestyle despite being unable to sustain it.
“He clearly doesn’t like to pay and relies on his celebrity status to defraud his victims,” Anton said, describing a yearslong pattern of coercing sellers into parting with luxury goods before refusing to pay. “He is a thief and a conman, plain and simple,” the prosecutor added.
Defence attorney Zeljka Bozanic argued that Kingston, now 35, retained the mentality of a teenager, the age he was when he rose to fame. She said Kingston lacked financial knowledge and relied heavily on managers and his mother.
“No one showed him how to invest his money. Money went in and money went out on superficial things,” Bozanic said. She added that Kingston had already begun repaying victims and intended to repay all debts once released.
Judge Leibowitz rejected the notion that Kingston was naive but credited him for accepting responsibility and not lying on the stand. He contrasted Kingston’s conduct with that of Turner, whose testimony he described as obstructive.
Kingston and his mother were arrested in May 2024 following a SWAT raid on Kingston’s rented mansion in Fort Lauderdale. Turner was detained during the raid, while Kingston was arrested at Fort Irwin, a US Army base in California, where he was performing.
Court records showed that from April 2023 to March 2024, Kingston used social media to arrange deals for luxury goods. Sellers were invited to his Florida residences, lured with promises of social media promotion, and then given falsified wire transfer receipts. The items obtained included a bulletproof Cadillac Escalade, expensive watches, and a 19-foot LED television.
Victims who never received payment frequently contacted Kingston and Turner, but were ignored or paid only after lawsuits or police intervention.
Born in Florida and raised in Jamaica, Kingston rose to stardom at 17 with his 2007 hit “Beautiful Girls,” followed by other popular tracks including “Take You There” and “Fire Burning.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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