Sean Kingston Sentenced To 3.5 Years Prison In Fraud Case

US singer Sean Kingston will be spending the next three-and-a-half years of his life in prison after he and his mother were both found guilty of wire fraud.

Kingston, who was born Kisean Anderson and rose to fame with his 2007 debut single Beautiful Girls, was first arrested alongside his mother Janice Turner on charges of fraud and theft back in May 2024. After posting bail, the Kingston and Turner were hit with federal charges in July 2024, including one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts each of wire fraud.

Under US law, wire fraud is defined as utilising telecommunications and/or or writing, signs, pictures, or sounds to defraud either an individual or group of people. Each count is punishable with a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

The US Attorney’s Office claimed that Kingston and Turner had "unjustly enriched themselves by falsely representing that they had executed bank wire or other monetary payment transfers as payment for vehicles, jewelry, and other goods purchased."

According to CBS News, the pair’s scheme involved them claiming they had made wire payments for a number of high-end items, though never actually did so. Evidence was presented showing the pair had used fake receipts as proof of payment to fraudulently obtain more than $1 million worth of goods and assets.

The pair were found guilty in March, with Turner being sentenced to five years in prison last month. Now, Kingston has himself been sentenced to three-and-a-half years, along with an additional three years of supervised release.

In a statement read out to the court, Kingston’s lawyer Zeljka Bozanic explained that the singer had the “mentality of a teenager” and had no knowledge of how to run either his business or a bank accounts. Bozanic described Kingston as "a soft guy who grew up poor when he rose to fame overnight".

Kingston's self-titled debut album reached the US top ten and hit No. 21 in Australia, before 2009's Tomorrow made only a minimal chart impact. A near-fatal jet ski accident preceded the release of 2013's fittingly-titled Back 2 Life, with 2021's Road To Deliverance being his most recent full-length release.