A SWAT team raided rapper Sean Kingston’s rented South Florida mansion on Thursday, arresting his mother, Janice Turner, on fraud and theft charges. An attorney suggests these charges partly relate to the installation of a massive TV at the home.
Broward County detectives arrested Turner, 61, at the 14,000-square-foot mansion in Southwest Ranches, a wealthy Fort Lauderdale suburb home to many celebrities and professional athletes, including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill.
The sheriff’s office stated the investigation is ongoing and declined to release specific details about the charges against Turner or whether her 34-year-old son is also under investigation. Local media reported that Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Anderson, was out of town during the raid. Broward County prosecutors referred all questions to the sheriff’s office.
It remains unclear if Turner has legal representation who could comment. Federal court records indicate she pleaded guilty to bank fraud in 2006 for stealing over $160,000 and served 16 months in prison.
“People love negative energy!” Kingston posted on Instagram on Thursday. “I am good, and so is my mother! … My lawyers are handling everything as we speak.” The post was later removed.
Florida Department of Corrections records show Kingston is currently on two-year probation for trafficking stolen property. Reporters observed authorities loading a van with goods from the mansion, which was surrounded by expensive sports cars.
Sean Kingston, the Jamaican-American rapper, is best known for his 2007 No. 1 single “Beautiful Girls,” his collaboration with Justin Bieber on “Eenie Meenie,” and “Take You There.” In 2011, he sustained near-fatal injuries in a jet ski accident. Kingston hasn’t released a major label album in over a decade.
An attorney who witnessed the arrest, Dennis Card, stated it is partly related to a lawsuit he filed against Kingston in February, accusing him of defrauding a Florida company that installed a 232-inch (5.8-meter) television—approximately 17 feet wide and 9.5 feet tall (5 meters by 3 meters).
“It is amazing what you can get away with if you are a celebrity,” Card told The Associated Press. “He creates this larger-than-life, ‘I am rich’ persona. His mother is a necessary component in this. He presents himself as a family-oriented guy, ‘I’m taking care of my mom,’ but she knows full well what is going on.”
In the lawsuit, Ver Ver Entertainment claims that Sean Kingston contacted the company in September to purchase a television, sold under the brand name Colossal TV, and have it installed at his home. The system costs $150,000.
Kingston allegedly proposed that if the company accepted a lower down payment and extended him credit, he and Justin Bieber would do commercials for them.
In November, Kingston paid the company $30,000, and the TV was installed. However, according to the lawsuit, no commercials or further payments were made, despite numerous promises by Kingston.
Emails seeking comment from Kingston's most recent known publicists went unanswered.
The lawsuit also mentions that Kingston no longer has a working relationship with Bieber, who recently parted ways with his longtime manager. There is no current contact information for Bieber available.
“He is 100% not involved in this,” Card said of Bieber. “He had the misfortune of doing some work in the past with Sean, and Sean drops his name like crazy.”