Rapper Sean Kingston, his mother arraigned on state wire fraud charges
FORT LAUDERDALE - Rapper Sean Kingston and his mother Janice Turner were arraigned Monday in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom on state charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The singer, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, and Turner are accused of defrauding victims out of high-end cars, jewelry and other goods the courts say they purchased using fraudulent documents. The charges from the state include fraud, grand theft and criminal use of identification.
Wearing matching white outfits, Kingston and Turner submitted written pleas of not guilty and both remained silent as they left the courthouse.
On Friday, the 34-year-old singer and his mother appeared in federal court where they pleaded not guilty to wire fraud charges. Kingston and Turner each face one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud.
If convicted, they could spend decades in prison.
"We believe he's innocent and we're looking forward to trying his case in state or federal court or both if necessary," said Kingston's attorney Robert Rosenblatt after Monday's arraignment.
Rosenblatt said the charges in both courtrooms stem from the same crimes and that all needs to be worked out.
"We advised the court that we are going to be filing some motions regarding the double jeopardy issues and federal and state court," he said.
While the cases get ironed out, Rosenblatt says Kingston is taking the arrest in stride.
"He's been performing and he's been doing very well," said the attorney. "We're confident we will be very successful in the case."
In May, Kingston and his mother were charged with conducting an organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, identity theft, and related crimes, according to arrest warrants released by the Broward Sheriff's Office.
Kingston was arrested on May 23 at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California's Mojave Desert where he was performing. He waived his right to fight the extradition and was returned to Florida.
Turner was also taken into custody that same day when police raided a South Florida mansion her son had been renting.
After his mother's arrest, Kingston shared a statement on Instagram, saying, "People love negative energy."
"I am good and so is my mother!.. my lawyers are handling everything as we speak," he added, followed by a couple of praying emojis.
The warrants in the case said that from October 2023 to March of this year they stole almost $500,000 in jewelry, more than $200,000 from Bank of America, $160,000 from an Escalade dealer, more than $100,000 from First Republic Bank and $86,000 from the maker of customized beds. Specifics were not given.
At the time of his arrest, Kingston was on two years' probation for trafficking stolen property.
Turner pleaded guilty in 2006 to bank fraud for stealing over $160,000 and served nearly 1 1/2 years in prison, according to federal court records.