A decide sentenced Sean Kingston to 3 and a half years in jail on Friday (August 15). He was beforehand convicted of a $1 million fraud scheme during which he leveraged his fame to dupe sellers into giving him luxurious gadgets that he then by no means paid for.
A jury convicted Kingston, whose authorized identify is Kisean Paul Anderson, and his mom, Janice Eleanor Turner, have been convicted in March by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 4 counts of wire fraud. She bought 5 years in jail final month.
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Choose Takes Sean Kingston Into Custody
Earlier than U.S. Choose David Leibowitz handed down Kingston’s sentence, the singer apologized to the decide within the South Florida courtroom. Additionally, he stated he had realized from his actions. His legal professional requested if he might self-surrender at a later date as a result of well being points. Nevertheless, the decide ordered him taken into custody instantly. Kingston was carrying a black go well with and a white shirt. Kingston eliminated his go well with jacket after the decide’s order to take him in. Officers handcuffed the singer and led him out of the courtroom.
What Did The Rapper’s Lawyer & The Prosecutor Say In Court docket
Within the listening to, Assistant U.S. Lawyer Marc Anton described Kingston as somebody hooked on his movie star life-style even when he might now not afford to keep up it.
“He clearly doesn’t prefer to pay and depends on his movie star standing to defraud his victims,” Anton stated Friday.
The federal prosecutor described a years-long sample by Kingston of bullying victims for luxurious merchandise after which refusing to pay. “He’s a thief and a conman, plain and easy,” Anton stated.
Protection legal professional Zeljka Bozanic countered that the 35-year-old Kingston had the mentality of a young person — the age he was when he vaulted to stardom. The legal professional stated Kingston had virtually no data of his funds, counting on enterprise managers and his mom.
“Nobody confirmed him learn how to make investments his cash,” Bozanic stated. “Cash went in and cash went out on superficial issues.”
Bozanic stated Sean Kingston has already began paying again his victims. The legal professional stated he intends to pay again each cent as soon as he’s free and may begin working once more.
Choose Leibowitz rejected the concept that Kingston was unintelligent or naive. Nevertheless, he credited the rapper with accepting accountability and declining to testify reasonably than presumably mendacity in courtroom. That was in distinction to Kingston’s mom, whose trial testimony Jusge Leibowitz described as obstruction.
Extra Particulars About Sean’s Mom & Their Case
That was in distinction to Kingston’s mom, whose trial testimony Choose Leibowitz described as obstruction.
Kingston and his mom have been arrested in Could 2024 after a SWAT workforce raided Kingston’s rented mansion in suburban Fort Lauderdale. Turner was taken into custody in the course of the raid, whereas Kingston was arrested at Fort Irwin, an Military coaching base in California’s Mojave Desert, the place he was performing.
In accordance with courtroom data, Kingston used social media from April 2023 to March 2024 to rearrange purchases of luxurious merchandise. After negotiating offers, Kingston would invite the sellers to one among his high-end Florida houses and promise to function them and their merchandise on social media.
Investigators stated that when it got here time to pay, Kingston or his mom would textual content the victims faux wire receipts for the gadgets, which included a bulletproof Escalade, watches and a 19-foot (5.9-meter) LED TV, investigators stated.
When the funds by no means cleared, victims typically contacted Kingston and Turner repeatedly, however have been both by no means paid or obtained cash solely after submitting lawsuits or contacting legislation enforcement, authorities stated.
Kingston, who was born in Florida and raised in Jamaica, shot to fame at age 17 with the 2007 hit “Stunning Women,” which laid his lyrics over Ben E. King’s 1961 track “Stand By Me.” His different hits embrace 2007’s “Take You There” and 2009’s “Hearth Burning.”
Related Press author David Fischer contributed to this report through AP Newsroom.
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