A Fort Lauderdale jury has found Sean Kingston (born Kisean Anderson) and his mother, Janice Turner, guilty on all five counts of wire fraud on Friday (March 28).
Anderson, 35, and Turner, 62, obtained luxury goods including cars and jewelry with the help of fraudulent documents that made it seem the goods were paid for, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida.
According to prosecutors, they each face a maximum of 20 years in prison per count and are set to be sentenced in July.
Turner was taken into federal custody following the verdict on Friday. The following day, her attorney, Humberto Dominguez, mentioned plans to appeal the conviction. Anderson posted bond totaling $700,000 in cash, per The New York Times, and will remain confined in his home with electronic monitoring.
His lawyer, Zeljka Bozanic, said on Saturday that she was thankful that he was allowed to remain out on bond, but noted that they will also file an appeal.
Prosecutors said that Anderson and Turner “unjustly enriched themselves” by falsely claiming that they used bank wire or other monetary transfers as payment for the aforementioned high-end items when these alleged transfers never happened. They were accused of “organized scheme to defraud” several businesses and were even accused of stealing a Cadillac Escalade from the dealership.
Oddly enough, Turner pleaded guilty to charges related to bank fraud in 2006 and was sentenced to 16 months in prison. She was released in March 2007.
Anderson is best known for his 2007 hit record, “Beautiful Girls,” which spent four weeks topping the Billboard Hot 100.
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