Janice Turner, mother of American singer Sean Kingston, has been sentenced to five years in a United States federal prison for her role in a $1 million fraud scheme.
Turner, 63, was convicted alongside her son in March after a jury found both guilty on five counts of wire fraud. According to court documents, both mother and son orchestrated a luxury goods scam between April 2023 and March 2024, using fake wire transfers to obtain high-end items, including watches and a car, without paying for them.
Some of the fraudulent purchases include:
Two watches worth $480,000
Another watch valued at $285,000
A luxury car priced at $159,702.78
The items, totaling over $1 million, were never paid for.
At the sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge David S. Leibowitz described Turner as the “nerve center” of the fraudulent scheme. Despite pleas from her lawyers for a lighter sentence citing health issues and charity work, the court handed down a five-year term.
Turner will also be deported to Jamaica after serving her sentence. She previously served more than a year in federal prison for a bank fraud conviction in 2006.
Sean Kingston, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, will be sentenced on August 28. The singer is best known for his hit tracks Beautiful Girls, Fire Burning, and Eenie Meenie with Justin Bieber.
