Sean Kingston and His Mother Have Both Been Arrested on Charges of Fraud

Following the news that rapper Sean Kingston had been arrested, many were stunned to learn that Sean wasn't the only member of his family who was taken into custody. Sean's mother, Janice Turner, was also taken into custody, which sparked numerous questions about why they were arrested and who Janice is more generally.

Sean's run-in with the law comes more than a decade after the peak of his popularity, and many want to learn more both about his arrest and about his mother. Here's what we know about both.

Sean Kingston is the first of three children born to Janice Kingston, and he was born on Feb. 3, 1990, coming to prominence as a rapper when he was still just a teenager. When he was 6 years old, Sean and his mother and siblings moved back to their native Jamaica, which is where he attended most of high school before moving back to the United States. Sean was originally discovered on YouTube, but his grandfather was a legendary Jamaican record producer.

Sean was arrested following a raid on his Florida home in which his mother was taken into custody. She was arrested on numerous fraud and theft charges, and an investigation into her criminal activity is still ongoing. Sean was reportedly renting the mansion that was raided, and is accused of not completing payments on a $150,000 entertainment system that included a 232-inch television.

According to a complaint filed against him, Sean got the company to agree to a lower down payment and credit toward the purchase in part by promising that he would produce promotional videos for the company with Justin Bieber.

"He tells a story. He's got basically a script, he says that he works with Justin Bieber, and that he obviously puts on a big show here," attorney Dennis Card, who has a civil case against Sean, told NBC 6.

"This is a rental house, he doesn't own it. And he lures people using his celebrity into having them release things without him paying for it. And then he simply never pays," Dennis continued.

Sean and his mother's arrest is just the latest legal trouble that Sean has faced over the course of his time in the spotlight.

In 2016, Sean got into a fight at the Penthouse Nightclub & Dayclub in Los Angeles, and was reportedly robbed of $300,000. In 2020, a warrant was issued for his arrest after he received jewelry but didn't pay for it, and the rapper has reportedly been sued several times for receiving items and then failing to pay for them. Just a year later, music video producer GXDLIKE said that Sean had threatened him and put a gun in his face, which Sean denies.

While this latest investigation into Sean is ongoing, Dennis has suggested that this may be a pattern of behavior for the rapper, who has faced numerous issues throughout his career around failing to pay for things.