$1 million fraud: Singer Sean Kingston’s mother jailed for 5 years

Janice Eleanor Turner, mother of singer Sean Kingston, has been sentenced to five years in prison and three years of probation after being convicted alongside her son in a federal wire fraud case involving more than $1 million.

US District Judge David Liebowitz sentenced the convict on Wednesday.

Turner, 63, and her son, whose legal name is Kisean Anderson, were convicted in April by a federal jury of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud.

Kingston, 35, is scheduled for sentencing on August 28.

Before sentencing, Turner apologised to the court, saying, “I’m sorry. My intention was to keep my son afloat in this difficult industry. They used him and abused him. I am begging for mercy for me and my son.”

Prosecutors told the court that from April 2023 to March 2024, Anderson reached out to his victims on a social media platform seeking to purchase valuable, high-end merchandise. 

After negotiating a deal, he would invite the sellers to one, if not more, of his high-end homes in the Broward County area of Florida.

During these meetings, he utilised his celebrity status to lull the victims into a false sense of security by promising to place his victims and their products in social media promos, or by name-dropping high-profile celebrities as potential referral clients.

When payment was due for the merchandise, Anderson or his mother would text the victims fake wire receipts that had been obtained by Turner as purported payment for the luxury merchandise, which included a bullet-proof Escalade, watches and a 232-inch LED TV.

When the funds never cleared, because the receipts were fake and no money had ever been transferred from legitimate accounts, the victims became suspicious, and despite numerous phone calls or text messages to Anderson and Turner, the victims were either never paid or only paid after filing a lawsuit or after law enforcement became involved.

The losses incurred included nearly $500,000 in jewelry, $200,000 from Bank of America, $160,000 from a luxury SUV dealer, over $100,000 from First Republic Bank, and $86,000 from a custom bed manufacturer.

At her sentencing, Turner was mandated to pay restitution, but her attorney said most of the businesses had already recovered their losses.