Singer and rapper Sean Kingston was arrested in San Bernardino County on Thursday, hours after a SWAT team raided his rented South Florida mansion.
Kingston, known for her hits “Beautiful Girls” and “Fire Burning,” was arrested near the Fort Irwin military base without incident in connection with a warrant in Florida, the Broward County Sheriff's Office confirmed to the Associated Press. The Teen Choice Awards winner, 34, was detained hours after her mother, Janice Turner, 61, was arrested in Florida.
SWAT officers arrived Thursday afternoon at Kingston's rented mansion in Southwest Ranches, an affluent Fort Lauderdale suburb that touts action star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson among its high-profile residents. A spokesperson for the Broward County Sheriff's Department did not immediately respond to The Times' request Friday for more details about the arrests.
Law enforcement officers could be seen after the raid loading a van with merchandise, the AP said. Video from NBC6 South Florida showed several high-end vehicles, including a Mercedes-Benz, a pair of Bentleys and a Tesla, parked outside the property.
Robert Rosenblatt, legal representative for the “Eenie Meenie” singer (real name Kisean Anderson) and his mother, told the AP on Thursday that he is “aware of the allegations” against his clients and is “confident of a successful resolution.” Prior to his own arrest, the Jamaican-raised artist apparently addressed the raid and the arrest of his mother on Instagram.
“People love negative energy,” he wrote in a now-expired Instagram story. “I'm fine, and so is my mother!…my lawyers are taking care of everything as we speak.”
Both Kingston and her mother have faced legal problems. Turner pleaded guilty in 2006 to bank fraud for stealing more than $160,000 and served nearly 18 months in prison, the AP reported, citing legal records. She is being held at the Broward County Main Jail on $160,000 bond.
Kingston, who was hospitalized in 2011 for a near-fatal jet ski accident, was sued in February for allegedly defrauding a Florida company that installed a 232-inch television in his home. Attorney Dennis Card, who sued Kingston and was present at the raid, told the AP that the search was partly related to the lawsuit.
Card's complaint alleges that Kingston contacted Ver Ver Entertainment to purchase the television for $150,000. The musician allegedly told the owners of Ver Ver Entertainment that he and his “Eenie Meenie” collaborator Justin Bieber would do commercials for the company if they agreed to a lower down payment. He made an initial payment of $30,000, but the commercials never came to fruition, the lawsuit alleges. Kingston made no additional payments, Card alleges. Kingston and Bieber haven't released a song together since their 2010 hit.
“It's amazing what you can do if you're a celebrity,” the lawyer told the AP on Thursday. “He creates this larger-than-life persona: 'I'm rich.' His mother is a necessary component in this. He presents himself as a family-oriented, 'I'm taking care of my mom' man, but she knows very well what's going on.”
Kingston also faced multiple charges of violations of gun laws, fraud and theft in Florida in 2018. He is serving two years of probation for trafficking in stolen property for a 2020 incident involving an unpaid jewelry bill, according to police. data from the Florida Department of Corrections.
Kingston will remain in California pending extradition to Florida.
