Sean Kingston has been sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison for his role in a $1 million fraud scheme.
On Friday, before US Judge David Leibowitz handed down Kingston’s sentence in a South Florida courtroom, the Jamaican rapper, 35, apologized and claimed he had learned from his actions, according to the Associated Press.
However, Leibowitz denied Kingston’s attorney’s request to self-surrender at a later date due to health issues, instead ordering the musician to be taken into custody immediately.
Kingston, who was wearing a black suit and white shirt, removed his jacket to be handcuffed and was escorted out of the courtroom.
In March, Kingston — born Kisean Paul Anderson — and his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, were each found guilty of four counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Turner, 63, was sentenced last month to five years in prison, which is far less than the maximum 20 years she and her son were each facing.
Immediately after being convicted, Kingston — who was allowed to await sentencing at home, while his mom was deemed a flight risk and taken into custody right away — teared up as he asked the US Marshals to “protect” her.
Prosecutors accused the mother-son duo of having “unjustly enriched themselves by falsely representing that they had executed bank wire or other monetary payment transfers as payment for vehicles, jewelry and other goods purchased by the defendants,” who knowingly never sent any funds.
During the trial, Turner admitted to handling her son’s finances irresponsibly.
Kingston was arrested in California in May 2024 after a SWAT team raided his Fort Lauderdale, Fla., home; Turner was arrested during the raid.
“People love negative energy!” the “Beautiful Girls” artist told his Instagram followers at the time.
“I am good and so is my mother! … my lawyers are handling everything as we speak.”
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