WASHINGTON: Rapper Sean Kingston and his mother, Janice Turner, appeared in a Florida federal court on Friday, facing charges in a wire fraud scheme involving over US$1 million worth of luxury goods.
Kingston, 34, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, and Turner, 61, were indicted earlier this month by a federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud.
If convicted, they each face up to 20 years in prison per count, the United Press International (UPI) reported according to the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Prosecutors alleged that from April 11, 2023, to March 29, Kingston and Turner acquired luxury cars, jewelry and other high-end items through deceitful means.
The rapper allegedly leveraged his celebrity status to convince vendors to deliver goods without full payment, using fake documents to show they had initiated payments.
In May, police raided Kingston's Florida home after a civil complaint accused him of not paying for a US$150,000 entertainment system.
The raid uncovered over US$1 million worth of luxury items and Turner was arrested on the spot while Kingston was arrested later that day as he prepared to perform at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in the Mojave Desert.
Both were released on bail and their next court date is set for Aug 9.
In 2006, Turner pleaded guilty to four counts of filing false loan applications and one count of fraud, resulting in a sentence of 16 months in prison and five years of supervised release, alongside an order to repay US$132,000 in stolen funds.
