The mother-son duo were convicted of wire fraud and theft earlier this year
Sean Kingston’s mother, Janice Turner, was sentenced to five years in prison and three years on probation after she and her son were both convicted on wire fraud and theft charges in March. The decision arrived days after her lawyer requested a shorter prison sentence, citing health issues and “minimal criminal history.
Turner received her sentence on Wednesday during a hearing in Miami federal court. A hearing on restitution is set for October. Turner apologized to the judge for her conduct after the hearing. “I’m sorry. My intention was to keep my son afloat in this difficult industry,” she said. “They used him and abused him. I am begging for mercy for me and my son.”
In a court filing dated July 19 and obtained by Rolling Stone, Janice Turner’s lawyers asked Judge David S. Leibowitz to sentence her to only 30 months. “Ms. Turner will go to prison; she has earned the prison sentence,” wrote her attorneys in the filing. “However, a sentence greater than thirty months is a waste of taxpayer resources based upon the history and characteristics of Ms. Turner.” Her legal team argued that the punishment was excessive for a 62-year-old with “a myriad of health issues” and “minimal criminal history,” while also citing letters from supporters who called her a “pillar in her community.”
Attorneys for Turner also requested that the judge recommend that she be sent to a federal prison as close as possible to Miami, stating that the “love and support resulting from Ms. Turner’s family and friends being able to visit her while in custody will allow her a greater chance of positive matriculation through the prison system.”
Per documents filed in the U.S. District Court’s Southern District of Florida last year, Kingston and his mother allegedly took part in a “scheme to defraud victim sellers of high-end specialty vehicles, jewelry, and other goods purchased by the defendants through the use of fraudulent documents.”
The pair was accused of having “enriched themselves by falsely representing that they had executed bank wire or other monetary payment” on those purchases but never sent the money, procuring over $1 million worth of property, per the indictment.
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Kingston posted bail in April and is currently awaiting sentencing.
