Last week the felony fraud trial for recording artist Sean Kingston and his mother, Janice Turner, kicked off in Miami [click here if you missed that].
On Friday Sean and Janice were found guilty on all counts...
From NBC News
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Rapper Sean Kingston and his mother were found guilty on all counts in their federal wire fraud trial in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Friday.
Kingston, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, and his mother, Janice Turner, were accused of defrauding a jewelry business, a luxury bed company, a used luxury and exotic car dealership, and a luxury microLED TV company, arrest warrants said.
A jury delivered the convictions after 3½ hours of deliberation.
Kingston, 34, was ordered to be confined to house arrest with electronic monitoring. He must post a surety bond of a home valued at $500,000 and $200,000 in cash, according to the court.
Turner, 61, was remanded into federal custody, where she was ordered to remain until sentencing.
Both are scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.
As the verdicts were read on Friday, Kingston and his mother dabbed away tears.
Turner’s defense attorney, Humberto Dominguez, said during closing arguments Friday that she was trying to protect her son from people after his money, and she had suspicions about a TV installer, two jewelers and car dealership mentioned in court.
“This case is about a woman’s intuition,” Dominguez said.
After telling Judge David S. Leibowitz he wanted to “speak his truth” earlier in the proceedings, Kingston changed course, ultimately deciding not to testify.
Kingston was allowed to post bond and remain out of jail until his sentencing partly because he made the decision to remain silent, the federal judge said in court.
Leibowitz said Turner’s testimony, which he said amounted to obstruction, was a factor in his decision to remand her into federal custody. He said her testimony “makes it impossible to believe she wouldn’t do anything for her son.”
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