By Peter Omopo – August 17, 2025
American-Jamaican singer Sean Kingston has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison by a Florida court for his role in a $1 million wire fraud scheme that also involved his mother.
The 35-year-old musician, famed for his 2007 global hit Beautiful Girls, was convicted in March for using falsified wire receipts to acquire luxury cars, watches, and other high-end items.
His mother, Janice Turner, received a five-year jail term with probation in July after admitting to falsifying wire transfers.
Kingston and Turner were first arrested in May 2024 following a SWAT raid on their South Florida mansion. Prosecutors said the duo targeted sellers of luxury goods through social media, promising exposure on Kingston’s platforms, but instead provided fake proof of payment.
Among the items obtained were a bulletproof Cadillac Escalade and an Audemars Piguet watch. Court filings revealed that Kingston texted his mother instructions to “make [a] fake receipt” to stall payments.
Turner told investigators she acted to protect her son, though this was not her first conviction — she previously served time for a 2006 bank fraud case.
Before sentencing, Kingston apologised and pleaded for leniency, requesting home confinement, but the court rejected the appeal.
Both mother and son also face several civil lawsuits from sellers alleging unpaid debts.
