Singer-rapper Sean Kingston was arrested in San Bernardino County on Thursday, hours after a SWAT team raided his rented mansion in South Florida.
Kingston, known for hits “Beautiful Girls” and “Fire Burning,” was arrested near the Fort Irwin Army base without incident in connection to a Florida warrant, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to the Associated Press. The Teen Choice Awards winner, 34, was detained hours after his 61-year-old mother, Janice Turner, was arrested in Florida.
SWAT officers descended Thursday afternoon on 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 goods, 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, a legal representative for the “Eenie Meenie” singer (real name Kisean Anderson) and his mother, told AP on Thursday he is “aware of allegations” against his clients and is “confident of a successful resolution.” Before his own arrest, the Jamaica-raised artist seemingly addressed the raid and his mother’s arrest on Instagram.
“People love negative energy,” he wrote in a since-expired Instagram story. “I am good, and so is my mother!..my lawyers are handling everything as we speak.”
Kingston and his mother have both faced legal troubles. Turner pleaded guilty in 2006 to bank fraud for stealing more than $160,000 and served nearly a 18 months in prison, AP reported, citing legal records. She is being held at Broward County’s Main Jail in lieu of a $160,000 bond.
Kingston, who was hospitalized in 2011 for a near-fatal jet ski crash, was sued in February for allegedly defrauding a Florida company that installed a 232-inch TV in his home. Attorney Dennis Card, who sued Kingston and was present for the raid, told AP that the search was partly connected to the lawsuit.
Card’s complaint alleges that Kingston reached out to Ver Ver Entertainment about buying the $150,000 television. The musician allegedly told Ver Ver Entertainment‘s owners that he and “Eenie Meenie” collaborator Justin Bieber would do commercials for the company if they agreed to a lower down payment. He put $30,000 down, but the commercials never came to fruition, the lawsuit alleges. Kingston made no additional payments, Card alleges. Kingston and Bieber have not released a song together since their 2010 hit.
“It is amazing what you can get away with if you are a celebrity,” the attorney told AP on Thursday. “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.”
Kingston also faced multiple charges of weapons-law violations, fraud and robbery in Florida in 2018. He is serving two years’ probation for trafficking stolen property for a 2020 incident involving an unpaid jewelry bill, according to the Florida Department of Corrections database.
Kingston will remain in California pending extradition to Florida.
