US rapper Sean Kingston jailed for million-dollar fraud scheme

Sean Kingston and his mother Janice Turner in 2012 (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

US rapper Sean Kingston has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison after being convicted of a one million dollar (£738,000) fraud scheme in which he leveraged his fame to dupe sellers into giving him luxury items he then never paid for.

Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, and his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, were each convicted in March by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud.

Turner was sentenced to five years in prison last month.

The singer apologised to judge David Leibowitz before he was sentenced in South Florida, saying he had learned from his actions.

His lawyer asked if he could self-surrender at a later date due to health issues, but the judge ordered Kingston to be taken into custody immediately.

The rapper, who was wearing a black suit and white shirt, removed his suit jacket and was handcuffed and led from the courtroom.

Kingston, 35, and his mother were arrested in May 2024 after a raid on his rented mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Turner was taken into custody during the raid, while Kingston was arrested at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California’s Mojave Desert, where he was performing.

According to court records, Kingston used social media from April 2023 to March 2024 to arrange purchases of high-end merchandise.

After negotiating deals, Kingston would invite the sellers to one of his high-end Florida homes and promise to feature them and their products on social media.

Investigators said that when it came time to pay, Kingston or his mother would text the victims fake receipts for the luxury merchandise, which included a bulletproof Escalade vehicle, watches and a 19ft (5.9-metre) LED TV, investigators said.

When the funds never cleared, victims often contacted Kingston and Turner repeatedly, but were either never paid or received money only after filing lawsuits or contacting police.

Kingston, who was born in Florida and raised in Jamaica, shot to fame aged 17 with the hit Beautiful Girls, which laid his lyrics over Ben E King’s 1961 song Stand By Me.

The song was at number one in the UK singles chart for four weeks in 2007.