Rapper Sean Kingston has been sentenced by a Florida court to three and a half years in prison after being found guilty of defrauding people by exploiting his fame.
Courts in the state of Florida, USA, handed Kingston this sentence after he was convicted of obtaining valuable goods through fraudulent means, including the use of fake payment receipts.Kisean Anderson, better known as Sean Kingston, together with his mother, Janice Turner, were accused of using his celebrity status to convince people to lend him money and luxury items. These included a bulletproof Cadillac Escalade, a gold Audemars Piguet watch, a massive 232-inch television, as well as clothing and household items worth over one million dollars.
Prosecutors said that Kingston and his mother lured merchants by promising to promote their products on social media to his millions of followers and to showcase them internationally. However, when it came time to pay, they would issue fake receipts claiming that payments had been made, which was false.Kingston’s mother admitted her guilt in court, saying she did it in an attempt to protect her son, whose music career had significantly declined compared to his earlier fame.
In text messages presented by prosecutors, Kingston told his mother: “I told you to make the fake payment receipt so it looks like we paid, because the money will come in a few days anyway.”When he appeared in court for sentencing, Kingston apologized, admitting that he now understood his actions were wrong and emphasizing that he had learned a tough lesson.
Although his lawyer requested house arrest instead of prison time arguing that the crime was non-violent and that several victims had already been compensated the judge ruled that Kingston must serve three years and six months in prison.Janice Turner, Kingston’s mother, was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of supervised release afterward. This was not her first conviction; back in 2006, she was sentenced to 18 months for bank fraud.
Kingston, who was born in Miami and raised in Jamaica, is best known for his 2007 hit “Beautiful Girls” and “Eenie Meenie”, his collaboration with Justin Bieber.
