What Happened to Sean Kingston? From Top Hits to Facing Prison Time

Sean Kingston was once on top of the world while we all sang “Beautiful Girls” and rushed to download the hit as a ringtone.

His unique sound of R&B fused with reggae quickly climbed the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He was the opening act for huge stars like Beyoncé, Gwen Stefani, and Kelly Clarkson and seemed to have a future destined for success.

As of late though, it appears like the once highly acclaimed sensation has had a fall from grace.

Let’s take a deep dive into what exactly happened to Sean Kingston.

He was born Kisean Paul Anderson on February 3, 1990, in Miami, Fla., and later moved to Kingston Jamaica when he was 6 years old.

After attending school for three years abroad, he soon migrated back to the United States and later on into his teenage years, started posting YouTube videos.

The internet helped him get discovered, initially as a rapper, but producers helped him develop a more melodic sound. With his music destiny forged by his grandfather, Lawrence Lindo, who was a Jamaican Reggae music producer, he was able to concoct his first single “Beautiful Girls."

His first album Sean Kingston did well, and was followed by another in 2009 called Tomorrow which contained another hit single “Eenie Meenie" featuring Justin Bieber.

After touring with Bieber, he also collaborated on other projects with various stars like Bow Wow and Jason Derulo.

He even co-wrote the hit "Whatchu Say” but his next debut album King Of Kingz did not do so well in 2011.

Things went from bad to worse for Kingston in 2011. The Hollywood Reporter spread the news that he was involved in a terrible jet ski accident in Miami resulting in him having to get open heart surgery for his torn aorta.

He slammed into a bridge and was knocked unconscious. He did not release music again until about four years later. After another unsuccessful album, between 2019 and 2022 he continued to release singles here and there, but could never again reach the height of his success.

On November 5, 2021, Sean reached a new low, being accused of punching a video director and then pulling a gun on him inside of Kingston’s home in Los Angeles.

According to TMZ, Sean’s representative affirmed all allegations were false and no charges were brought against the rapper. After the incident, he released another album that did not do well.

Sean was arrested in May 2023 in California at the mansion he was renting, following his mother's arrest earlier that day. Sean and his mother, Janice Turner, were indicted on federal charges of wire fraud.

The warrants for the state charges say that from October 2023 to March 2024, they stole almost $500,000 in jewelry, more than $200,000 from Bank of America, $160,000 from a Cadillac Escalade dealer, more than $100,000 from First Republic Bank, and $86,000 from the maker of customized beds.

The U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida, issued a press release confirming a Miami grand jury charged Sean and his mother 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."

According to People Magazine, he and his mother pleaded not guilty on all counts to fraud charges of more than $1 million. Their bond has been set for $90,000.

Ironically, the rapper is no stranger to crime! He was already serving a two-year probation sentence for trafficking stolen property, according to AP News.

His mother pleaded guilty in 2006 to bank fraud for stealing over $160,000 and served nearly a year and a half in prison, according to federal court records.