Rapper Sean Kingston and his mother pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of defrauding multiple businesses of more than $1 million.
Kingston, whose real name is Kisean Anderson, and his mother, Janice Turner, entered the pleas during an arraignment hearing before Broward Circuit Judge Ernest Kollra, the Sun Sentinel reported. Bond had already been set at $90,000 in a previous hearing, and Kollra did not make any changes, the newspaper said.
The performer and his mother pleaded not guilty to organized fraud and grand theft charges.
Kingston was originally arrested in Fort Irwin, California, in May on a warrant issued by the Broward Sheriffâs Office after a SWAT team raided his home in Southwest Ranches.
Kingston, 34, and Turner, 61, were accused of defrauding a jewelry business, a luxury bed company, a used luxury and exotic car dealership and a luxury microLED TV company since October 2023, arrest warrants said.
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Prosecutors said they purchased the items using fraudulent documents including bank wires and payment transfers, then kept or tried to keep the items despite not paying.
In one instance, Kingston allegedly fraudulently obtained a bed valued at more than $86,000 from a company named Maree, whose website said it "designs and creates the world's largest luxury beds."
In another, a Cadillac Escalade valued at $159,701.49 was fraudulently obtained from an exotic car dealership, the warrants said.
Also fraudulently obtained was jewelry valued at $480,000, the warrants said.
The total value of the items obtained exceeded $1 million, prosecutors said.
"We believe he's innocent," Kingston's attorney, Robert Rosenblatt, told NBC Miami. "We're looking forward to trying this case either in state or federal court, or both if necessary."
Kingston was already serving a two-year probation sentence for trafficking in stolen property.
Kingston and his mother are expected back in court Oct. 11, the newspaper said. They are also facing related charges in federal court.
Kingston broke into the music scene at the age of 17 in 2007 with the hit âBeautiful Girls,â which laid his lyrics over the musical track of âStand By Meâ by Ben E. King.
