A federal judge in Fort Lauderdale on Friday sentenced rapper Sean Kingston to three-and-a-half years in prison for orchestrating a US$1 million wire-fraud scheme. Judge David Leibowitz ordered the 35-year-old performer, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, to be taken into custody immediately, imposed three years of supervised release and set a restitution hearing within 90 days. Kingston and his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, were convicted in March of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. Prosecutors said that from April 2023 to March 2024 the pair used the singer’s celebrity to secure luxury goods—including a bullet-proof Cadillac Escalade, high-end watches and a 19-foot LED television—then sent sellers falsified wire-transfer receipts instead of payment. Turner received a five-year sentence last month. The duo were arrested in May 2024 after a SWAT team raided Kingston’s rented mansion in Southwest Ranches, Florida; Kingston was detained later the same day at Fort Irwin, California, where he was performing. Defense lawyers had sought home confinement, citing health issues and partial repayments, but the judge said the evidence showed a deliberate pattern of theft. Kingston rose to prominence in 2007 with the chart-topping hit “Beautiful Girls.”
UPDATE: Rapper Sean Kingston was sentenced on Friday to three and a half years in prison after being convicted of a $1 million fraud scheme in South Florida. https://t.co/mZugt9hvcH
Rapper Sean Kingston was sentenced to three and a half years prison on Friday after being convicted of a $1 million fraud scheme in South Florida. https://t.co/RSPIUzQIrB
Singer Sean Kingston sentenced to 3.5 years in prison over his wire fraud trial https://t.co/YeCzTTmcDQ