Pop singer Sean Kingston will return to his home state of Florida, where SWAT officers conducted a search at his rental house last week.
The Jamaica-raised musician, known for hits “Beautiful Girls” and “Take You There,” waived his rights to fight extradition in California and agreed to go back to Florida, where he and his mother face 10 charges of theft and fraud. Florida police accuse Kingston, 34, and his 61-year-old mother Janice Turner of stealing more than $1 million in money, jewelry and other goods from several businesses from October through March.
Kingston (real name Kisean Anderson) signed documents agreeing to forgo extradition hearings on Tuesday, the Associated Press confirmed. San Bernardino County officials will work with the Broward County Sheriff’s Offices in Florida to iron out 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 have the singer “returned to Florida at least cost to all.”
Rosenblatt added: “We deny all of the allegations and look forward to trying this case to a Florida jury.”
Kingston, who rose to popularity in the early aughts with his catchy hit “Beautiful Girls,” was arrested near Ft. Irwin in San Bernardino County on May 23. He was arrested hours after SWAT officers conducted a raid on his rental home in Southwest Ranches, an affluent suburb of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
After the raid, officers were seen loading a van with goods from Kingston and his mother’s home. Video from NBC6 South Florida also showed several luxury vehicles parked outside the property. His mother was arrested during the raid and has since been placed on a $160,000 bond.
Hours before his arrest Thursday, Kingston reassured his Instagram followers in a since-deleted story: “I am good, and so is my mother!.. my lawyers are handling 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 worth of jewelry from an individual, a Cadillac Escalade worth nearly $160,000 and furniture that cost upward of $86,500. The warrant alleges that 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 stolen property in a 2020 incident involving an unpaid jewelry bill.
Both Kingston and his mother have each faced legal woes 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 weapons-law violations, fraud and robbery in Florida.
At the time of the SWAT raid, Rosenblatt told AP that he was “aware of the allegations” against his clients and was “confident of a successful resolution.”
