$160,000 bond for rapper Sean Kingston's mom who is charged with fraud, theft
FORT LAUDERDALE - The mother of Kisean Anderson, known in the music world as Sean Kingston, appeared before a judge on Friday.
Janice Turner, 61, was arrested on Thursday during a raid on the singer's Southwest Ranches mansion. Her son would find himself in handcuffs hours later in California on an arrest warrant from Broward County.
During Turner's bond court hearing, the judge read off the eight fraud and theft charges against her.
In arguing for a high bond amount, the prosecutor brought up her previous record.
"This is not Ms. Turner's first time with this type of conduct. She has a 2005 federal conviction for bank fraud where she was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison," attorney Eric Linder told the judge.
Turner's attorney argued for a more lenient bond.
"There are no violent priors, this case is not violent in nature, she doesn't pose a threat to the community," said Sam Stark.
In the end, the judge kept the bond at $160,000. Her attorney will have to prove the money for the bond is from a legitimate source, not something illegal.
Janice Turner Complaint by John MacLauchlan on Scribd
Attorney Bob Rosenblatt, who represents the singer and his mother, said he expects Turner will be released soon.
"She'll be resting her head on a pillow back in Southwest Ranches tonight," he told CBS News Miami's Ted Scouten.
Kingston, on the other hand, is being held without bond in San Bernardino, California — waiting to be sent back to Florida.
"We wanted to bring them back as soon as possible so he could self surrender but they grabbed them before we could do that," Rosenblatt said. "And he's going to waive extradition."
"You would think Osama bin Laden was there with all the for use of force that they use their long guns and SWAT teams and masks and everything else like. you know it was, it was crazy! Certainly overreacted," he added.
We talked to another jeweler who said he was planning to sue and sent CBS News Miami a receipt. He claimed the mother-and-son duo owed him $133,000 for two watches and a 56-carat necklace.
Kingston, who was renting the mansion, is accused of not completing payments to VER VER Entertainment on a $150,000 entertainment system that included a 232-inch television. According to the complaint, Kingston persuaded the company to accept a lower down payment and credit towards the purchase by saying he would produce promotional videos for the company with Justin Bieber.
Dennis Card, who represents VER VER Entertainment, said that Kingston scams people by using his fame.
Kingston's attorney said this is a civil case and he believes this may have happened because of his celebrity status and is looking forward to his day in court.
