Sean Kingston and His Mother Charged with Wire Fraud

Sean Kingston and his mother, Janice Turner, face decades in prison if convicted by a federal grand jury on wire fraud charges.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida, on Friday, July 19, a Miami grand jury charged Kingston (real name Kisean Anderson), 34, and Janice Turner, 61, each with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and five counts of wire fraud for their alleged “involvement 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.”

If convicted, each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison on each count, per the release.

The department alleged that the mother-son duo “unjustly enriched themselves by falsely representing that they had executed bank wire or other monetary payment transfers” as payment for the goods “when in fact no such bank wire or other monetary payment transfers had been executed by the purported banks.”

Arrest warrants released by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and previously reviewed by PEOPLE allege that the duo stole nearly $500,000 in jewelry, $160,000 from an Escalade dealer, $86,000 from the maker of customized beds, and more.

“Through the execution of this scheme, the defendants obtained in excess of $1 million in property,” said the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida.

Kingston was arrested on Thursday, May 23, in California after arrest and search warrants were served at the South Florida mansion he was renting. His mother was arrested earlier that day.

The raid was executed as part of an investigation stemming from a February lawsuit between Ver Ver Entertainment and Kingston, which claimed that the singer had not paid for purchased items from the company.

According to the complaint obtained by PEOPLE, Kingston allegedly breached his contract by failing to pay the company after “multiple attempts to collect payment” and presented “numerous false representations,” including that he had a “current and ongoing working relationship” with Justin Bieber, with whom he’s previously collaborated. CBS News reported that Kingston was on two years’ probation for trafficking stolen property.

When the musician posted bond in June, he shared a message on social media thanking his family, friends, legal team, and fans for their support. Robert Rosenblatt, one of the attorneys in his legal team told the Associated Press that same month that they “are confident of a successful resolution.”

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While Kingston has not addressed the latest development in the case, he shared a video on his Instagram Stories on Friday evening telling fans, “New music coming soon, stay tuned.”