Sean Kingston has been sentenced to three and a half years behind bars after being found guilty in a $1,000,000 felony wire fraud case.
The Beautiful Girls singer and his mother, Janice Turner, were arrested last May after being accused of defrauding businesses.
In March, they were convicted of all five charges – including four counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to Billboard, the 35-year-old, real name Kisean Paul Anderson, was sentenced to 42 months in prison and three years probation at a hearing earlier today.
He had reportedly pleaded with Judge David S Leibowitz for a house arrest term and cited his charitable contributions.
Before the sentencing, AP reports that he apologized to the court and vowed that he had learned from his actions.
Kingston’s lawyers had asked whether he could self-surrender at a later date, but was taken into custody immediately after the judge refused.
The news comes after Turner was sentenced to five years in prison last month – they now face restitution hearings which are slated for October.
The pair were accused of defrauding businesses in a $1million wire fraud scheme, involving jewelry, luxury vehicles, and other goods – which resulted in the Eenie Meenie musician’s home being raided.
In court documents obtained via AP, it was alleged that the Fire Burning star used social media to purchase high-end goods between April 2023 and March 2024.
It was claimed that he would negotiate deals by inviting the sellers to his home in Florida, promising to feature the products on his social media pages.
Prosecutors said that Kingston or his mom would text them fake receipts when it was time to pay for the products – which reportedly included a 19ft TV, a bulletproof Escalade and watches.
However, victims were either never paid, or had to go through the legal route to get their money.
In a lawsuit, Ver Ver Entertainment alleged that Kingston contacted them in September 2023 about purchasing a huge TV and having it installed.
They claimed that there was ‘basically a script’ in which he would ‘lure people in’ through his connection to other stars, including Justin Bieber.
‘[Kingston] puts on a big show here, this is a rental house, he doesn’t own it, and he lures people using his celebrity into having them release things without him paying for it and then he simply never pays,’ they claimed.
Last May, attorney Dennis Card accused him of defrauding the Florida company that installed his TV, telling AP: ‘It is amazing what you can get away with if you are a celebrity.
‘He creates this larger than life, “I am rich” persona. His mother is a necessary component in this.
‘He presents himself as a family-oriented guy, “I’m taking care of my mom,” but she knows full well what is going on.’
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