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Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, and his
mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, were each convicted by a federal
jury in March of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts
of wire fraud. U.S. Judge David Leibowitz sentenced Turner last
month to five years in prison, but Kingston's sentencing was
rescheduled.
Kingston, 35, and his mother were arrested in May 2024 after a
SWAT team raided Kingston’s rented mansion in suburban Fort
Lauderdale. Turner was taken into custody during the raid, while
Kingston was arrested at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in
California’s Mojave Desert, where he was performing.
According to court records, Kingston used social media from
April 2023 to March 2024 to arrange purchases of high-end
merchandise. After negotiating deals, Kingston would invite the
sellers to one of his high-end Florida homes and promise to
feature them and their products on social media.
Investigators said that when it came time to pay, Kingston or
his mother would text the victims fake wire receipts for the
luxury merchandise, which included a bulletproof Escalade,
watches and a 19-foot (6-meter) LED TV, investigators said.
When the funds never cleared, victims often contacted Kingston
and Turner repeatedly, but were either never paid or received
money only after filing lawsuits or contacting law enforcement.
Kingston shot to fame at age 17 with the 2007 hit “Beautiful
Girls,” which laid his lyrics over Ben E. King's 1961 song
“Stand By Me.”
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