Photo Credit: Bruno van der Kraan
Rapper Sean Kingston is in a whole heap of trouble—with his mother included. From state charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud to a default judgment for unpaid jewelry bills, both Kingston and his mother appeared in court this week. Here’s the latest.
The rapper/singer, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, and his mother, Janice Turner, were arraigned Monday in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom on the conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges. Both the rapper and his mother are accused of defrauding victims of high-end cars, jewelry, and other goods the court alleges the duo purchased using fraudulent documents. Charges include fraud, grand theft, and criminal use of identification.
Both Kingston and his mother submitted written pleas of ‘not guilty,’ with both remaining silent as they left the courthouse. On Friday, the duo appeared in federal court where they plead not guilty to wire fraud charges. Both Kingston and Turner face one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud. If they are convicted, they could face several years in prison.
“We believe he’s innocent and we’re looking forward to trying his case in state or federal court or both if necessary,” said attorney Robert Rosenblatt after the arraignment. “We advised the court that we are going to be filing some motions regarding the double jeopardy issues and federal and state court,” he continued.
Both Kingston — who splashed onto the music scene in 2007 with the hit ‘Beautiful Girls’ — and his mother were arrested on May 23. Kingston was taken into custody at Fort Irwin at an Army training base where he was performing. His mother was also taken into custody during a police raid on a Florida mansion she and her son were renting.
Kingston also appears to be on the hook for a $916,000 judgment after failing to respond to a lawsuit over unpaid high-end watch bills. According to court documents, jewelry company Dream Watch received a default judgement in the lawsuit on August 27 after failing to respond. Dream Watch demanded $1,054,107 from the rapper after he reached out in 2022 to inquire about purchasing two luxury watches.
The two luxury watches were a Richard Mille Model RM 65.01 Automatic and a Patek Philippe. Dream Watch alleges that Kingston agreed to pay $534,000 for the Richard Mille watch and $378,000 for the Patek Philippe watch. According to the lawsuit, a representative from Dream Watch flew from Malaysia to Sean’s home in Los Angeles with the watches in 2022. Kingston inspected the watches and agreed to buy both for $912,000 through wire transfer.
“Kingston represented his initial wire attempt was rejected because it was flagged by his bank due to the large amount being wired overseas,” the lawsuit, obtained by InTouch alleges. “Thereafter, Kingston represented his account was frozen due to the initial wire attempt, amongst other excuses which persisted for over three months until Kingston stopped responding entirely.”
“Ultimately, the agreed upon funds were never sent and Defendants continue to refuse to render payment as agreed. Defendant Kingston continues to possess the two watches.”
Dream Watch served Kingston while he was in California custody awaiting his extradition to Florida for the above charges. Despite receiving said paperwork, Kingston never responded to the lawsuit—which resulted in a default judgement in Dream Watch’s favor. Prosecutors in his wire fraud case have outlined how both Kingston and his mother received more than $1 million from their schemes.
