Sean Kingston and his mom, Janice Turner, might be in hot water. In May, authorities raided Sean’s Florida home over an alleged fraud scheme. While Sean wasn’t there, his 61-year-old mother was, and she was arrested immediately. Sean himself was picked up later at a concert in California. Both were released after a few days, but now they’re facing federal charges.
Federal prosecutors say Sean Kingston and his mom are accused of defrauding businesses out of more than a million dollars. A Grand Jury in Miami indicted them on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud.
The charges allege that Sean and Janice devised a plan to swindle businesses out of luxury goods like jewelry and cars. They supposedly claimed to send money transfers for these high-end items but never actually paid, keeping the goods anyway. Prosecutors say the mother-son duo got away with more than a million dollars’ worth of property. This includes scamming a car dealer out of a $160K Cadillac Escalade and jewelers out of $480K in jewelry, all without paying a dime.
Following the raid, Sean and Janice appeared in federal court for the first time on Friday. If convicted, they could face serious prison time—up to 20 years for each count. Since they’re each facing six counts, the potential sentence is steep.
Sean’s lawyer, Robert Rosenblatt, told TMZ that they’re ready to fight the charges in federal court and are confident they will win.