Pop singer Sean Kingston will return to his home state of Florida, where SWAT officers conducted a search of his rental home last week.
The Jamaican-raised musician, known for his hits “Beautiful Girls” and “Take You There,” waived his right to fight extradition in California and agreed to return to Florida, where he and his mother face 10 counts of theft and fraud. . Police in Florida accuse Kingston, 34, and his mother Janice Turner, 61, of stealing more than $1 million in money, jewelry and other property from various businesses between October and March.
Kingston (real name Kisean Anderson) signed documents agreeing to waive extradition hearings on Tuesday, the Associated Press confirmed. San Bernardino County officials will work with the Broward County sheriff's offices in Florida to clarify the details of Kingston's return.
Robert Alan Rosenblatt, an attorney for Kingston and Turner, told The Times on Wednesday that his team was working to get the singer “returned to Florida at the lowest cost to everyone.”
Rosenblatt added: “We deny all allegations and look forward to bringing this case to a Florida jury.”
Kingston, who rose to popularity early in the aughts with her catchy hit “Beautiful Girls,” was arrested near Ft. Lauderdale. Irwin in San Bernardino County on May 23. He was arrested hours after SWAT officers raided his rental home in Southwest Ranches, an affluent suburb of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
After the raid, officers were seen loading a van with merchandise from Kingston and his mother's house. NBC6 South Florida video also showed several luxury vehicles parked outside the property. Her mother was arrested during the raid and has since been held on $160,000 bail.
Hours before his arrest on Thursday, Kingston reassured his Instagram followers in a since-deleted story: “I'm fine, and so is my mom!…my lawyers are taking care of everything as we speak.”
Details about Kingston and Turner's alleged fraud and theft emerged days after the raid and their arrests. A Broward Sheriff's Office arrest warrant reviewed by The Times accuses Kingston and Turner of stealing more than $480,000 in jewelry from an individual, a Cadillac Escalade valued at nearly $160,000 and furniture costing more than $86,500. The warrant alleges they also stole more than $200,000 from Bank of America and more than $100,000 from First Republic Bank.
Police also charged Kingston with allegedly violating the terms of his two-year probation for trafficking in stolen property in a 2020 incident involving an unpaid jewelry bill.
Both Kingston and her mother have faced legal problems in the past. In 2006, Turner pleaded guilty to bank fraud for stealing more than $160,000 and served nearly 18 months in prison. In 2018, Kingston faced multiple charges of gun law violations, fraud and theft in Florida.
At the time of the SWAT raid, Rosenblatt told the AP that he was “aware of the allegations” against his clients and was “confident of a successful resolution.”
