0:01 Earning a number one song on the
0:03 Billboard Hot 100 is something most
0:05 artists will never do in their entire
0:08 career. Shawn Kingston did it with his
0:11 debut single at age 17, but today he is
0:13 in federal prison. Instead of using his
0:15 talents to create more timeless art, the
0:17 musician put all of his effort into
0:20 fraud, forged wire transfers, and luxury
0:22 scams. Shawn became so deeply entrenched
0:24 into this world of crime that his own
0:26 mother got involved. and now she is
0:28 actually serving a longer sentence in
0:31 prison than him. Then again, when you're
0:33 15 years old and sleeping in a car while
0:35 your mom is behind bars for bank fraud,
0:37 it's safe to say that the odds are
0:39 stacked against you. Unfortunately, this
0:41 is the exact situation that an
0:42 undiscovered Shawn Kingston found
0:44 himself in. Shawn was no stranger to
0:46 crime during his years growing up in
0:48 Jamaica, catching himself a breaking and
0:50 entering charge at only 11 years old.
0:52 But thanks to his roots, he was no
0:53 stranger to the power of music either.
0:55 His grandfather was Jack Ruby, a
0:57 well-known reggae producer who worked
0:59 with the likes of Bob Marley. Shawn was
1:01 inspired by his grandfather's story and
1:03 saw music as a way out of his situation.
1:05 >> My mom left. It was like it was I was on
1:07 my own, you know, and it made me it
1:09 forced me to become a man early and to
1:11 get on my job. And I always said to
1:13 myself that when my mom get out of jail,
1:14 like I'm going to be picking her up in
1:16 her dream car. like with a one-way plane
1:18 ticket and $300 in his pocket, Shawn
1:21 went to LA at just 17 years old where he
1:22 slept on couches of distant relatives
1:25 and old family friends. He began posting
1:27 his songs to MySpace under the name
1:29 Franchise in hopes of getting noticed,
1:30 and eventually he did. Record producer
1:32 J.R. Rodm saw potential in the
1:34 17-year-old and signed him to his label,
1:36 Beluga Heights. Jon got to work on a
1:38 full-length rap album under the name
1:39 Franchise, but everything would be
1:41 scrapped when his producers heard him
1:44 sing for the first time. And overnight
1:45 they decided to change the entire
1:48 franchise rap album into a singing album
1:50 because this dude sang and they didn't
1:52 realize that he could sing and they
1:53 changed franchise's name to Shan Kingston.
1:54 Kingston.
1:56 >> This decision would shift the entire
1:58 trajectory of his career. His debut
2:00 single was called Beautiful Girls and it
2:02 released at the perfect time. Billboard
2:04 had just begun incorporating digital
2:07 sales into their charts, giving Shawn a
2:09 huge edge. Initially, he debuted at 83
2:11 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it would
2:13 skyrocket to the number one spot with
2:15 the formula change. It remained at the
2:17 number one spot for 4 weeks, dethroning
2:19 the plain white te's Hey There Delila
2:21 and charted ahead of other legendary
2:23 artists like Timberland, Fergie, and
2:24 Rihanna. The success from Beautiful
2:26 Girls would carry into his debut
2:28 self-titled album, which contributed
2:30 other hits like Take You There and Me
2:32 Love. Plus, real ones agree that Take
2:33 You There is actually better than
2:35 Beautiful Girls, but whatever. The album
2:37 peaked at number six on the Billboard
2:39 200 and was certified gold within a few
2:41 months. Shawn Kingston was the hot new
2:44 upandcomer with a fresh take on melodic
2:46 rap, R&B, and a sprinkle of Caribbean
2:48 influence. He was invited to open up on
2:49 tour for artists like Gwen Stefani and
2:51 Beyonce and even got to share the stage
2:54 with Chris Brown, Lil Mama, Bowwow, and
2:56 Soulja Boy at Madison Square Garden in
2:58 December of 2007. Shawn went from
3:00 sleeping in cars on the streets of
3:01 Jamaica to performing one of the most
3:03 coveted stages in the entertainment
3:06 industry at only 17 years old. With fame
3:08 like this, money followed. Shawn now had
3:10 the rapper lifestyle he could only dream
3:13 of as a kid. Nice cars, watches, and
3:15 clothes symbolizing his success as an
3:17 artist. Many artists believe this type
3:19 of fame and success will last forever.
3:21 But sadly, this was the peak of Shawn's
3:22 career, and it was only going to go
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4:24 After a couple of years touring across
4:26 the globe, Shawn dropped his sophomore
4:28 album titled Tomorrow in September of
4:30 2009. Much like his previous record, the
4:32 album had some standout tracks such as
4:34 Fire Burning, which spent 21 weeks on
4:36 the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number
4:38 five on the charts. The album itself was
4:40 much less successful, peaking at 37 on
4:42 the Billboard 200 before dropping off
4:44 the list entirely 5 weeks later.
4:46 However, Shawn clearly had an immense
4:48 talent for writing music and found other
4:50 ways to top the charts. He co-wrote
4:52 Jason Derulo's song, What You Say, which
4:54 also peaked at number one, meaning Shawn
4:56 Kingston technically has two number one
4:58 hits. He then collaborated with Justin
5:00 Bieber on the track Eeny Meanie, which
5:02 spent 18 weeks on the Billboard charts
5:04 and peaked at number 15. And this could
5:06 have been a great lane for Shawn to just
5:08 go all the way in on. The life cycle of
5:10 a popular artist is really difficult to
5:12 predict. Songwriters can have much
5:14 longer careers because they don't have
5:16 to tour or maintain a brand. But that
5:19 spotlight strokes the ego, and Shawn
5:20 didn't think it would ever fade.
5:23 Unfortunately, life threw an unexpected
5:25 twist when Shawn was hospitalized after
5:27 a nearly fatal jet ski accident.
5:30 >> I was going 75 mph and as I got close,
5:31 you know, jet ski doesn't have any
5:33 brakes. So, as I got close, I start I
5:35 tried, you know, try to slow down cuz I
5:36 knew I couldn't make it under cuz the
5:38 tide got high. It looked like I could
5:40 have make like I could have went under.
5:42 But as I got close to it, I started
5:44 noticing that the tide, you know, it it
5:46 was rising up. So, I started going 75
5:50 mph like that guy.
5:53 And then, um, I hit the bridge, you
5:55 know, I hit a bridge and and I tore my
5:57 aorta, which is the tube that connects
5:57 to your heart.
5:59 >> On top of his torn aorta, he had a
6:02 broken jaw, wrist, and ribs. After two
6:04 separate heart surgeries and 23 days in
6:06 the hospital, Shawn walked out alive and
6:08 well. Shawn worked hard to live a
6:10 lifestyle where he could party all day
6:12 and ride jet skis as much as he wanted.
6:14 But now that same lifestyle he fought
6:15 for had nearly killed him. But that
6:17 still did not stop him from throwing
6:19 ragers at his mansion and getting sued
6:20 for all the hole covered walls he left
6:22 behind when he moved out. Shawn could
6:24 have walked away from this accident with
6:25 the realization that he was moving too
6:27 fast. But it seems like that wasn't
6:30 enough to teach him that lesson. After 4
6:32 years without a full-length release,
6:33 Shawn came back with his third album,
6:36 Back to Life, in 2013. The album had a
6:38 standout single, Beat It, featuring
6:39 Chris Brown and Whiz Khalifa, started at
6:42 52. Although the full-length LP failed
6:44 to even touch the Billboard 200 charts
6:46 and received generally negative reviews
6:48 from critics. And this isn't surprising
6:50 considering Shawn is more of a singles
6:52 artist. He wasn't known for cohesive and
6:55 immersive albums like Kanye West or even
6:57 Chris Brown, who built bodies of work
6:59 that fans consumed from front to back.
7:01 Shawn's success lived and died on the
7:02 strength of singles. Songs that
7:05 dominated radio, lit up the clubs and
7:06 soundtrack the summer. And that's the
7:08 danger of being a singles driven artist.
7:10 You need a constant stream of hits to
7:12 stay relevant every summer, every radio
7:14 cycle, every club. You have to deliver
7:17 another anthem or the industry moves on.
7:19 It had been 6 years since his peak and
7:21 Shawn was not able to keep up with the
7:22 modern club sound. But that doesn't mean
7:24 he was in a tough spot financially or
7:26 had to go back to sleeping in his car.
7:28 It's a lasting legacy and generational
7:31 wealth for himself and his family. Even
7:32 then, he still had a loyal audience
7:34 willing to follow his journey and the
7:36 skills to continue writing music for
7:38 himself and other artists. But it wasn't
7:40 necessarily just about the money for
7:42 Shawn. It was about the status, the
7:44 luxuries. And now that he was losing
7:46 that, he became desperate and would
7:48 embark on a life of crime just to
7:50 maintain this lifestyle. Early cracks
7:52 began to show in 2012 when it was
7:55 revealed that Shawn owed over $130,000
7:57 to the IRS after failing to pay his
8:00 taxes in 2009. Of course, rappers and
8:01 hip-hop artists aren't particularly
8:03 known for their love of paying taxes.
8:05 But headlines discussing Shawn's
8:06 finances became more pervasive than
8:08 headlines about his music. like when he
8:10 had a run-in with law enforcement in the
8:13 Dominican Republic in March of 2014.
8:14 Hoping to have a fun Saturday night,
8:16 Shawn and his friends went to a
8:18 nightclub called Euphoria, where they
8:20 ran up a nearly $9,000 tab, buying
8:22 drinks and smoking hookas. When the
8:24 night came to an end, Shawn and his crew
8:26 left without paying the bill, and the
8:28 employees promptly called the police.
8:29 Local law enforcement was able to track
8:31 down Shawn and his friends and informed
8:33 them that if they didn't pay their bill,
8:34 they would be arrested and forbidden to
8:36 leave the country. Shawn was deeply
8:38 apologetic and explained that the
8:39 managers had promised to take care of
8:41 him and assumed that meant his service
8:43 would be complimentary. He returned
8:45 later that night and paid the tab in
8:46 full. Now, of course, this could have
8:48 been just a big misunderstanding.
8:50 However, you will notice that even small
8:52 things like this were an insight into
8:55 Shawn's sneaky, scammy, sinister pattern
8:57 of behavior. A few months later in
8:59 August, Shawn was sued for over $1
9:01 million by a jewelry seller named Avi
9:03 the Jeweler. The two had a business
9:04 relationship dating all the way back to
9:07 2008 where Shawn had picked up a bunch
9:09 of different jewelry items including a
9:12 $35,000 44 karat watch, a $150,000
9:14 custom pendant with his initials and a
9:16 diamond encrusted Jesus piece with the
9:19 total price being over $200,000. Avi was
9:21 given seven different checks that were
9:23 supposed to cover all the costs, but
9:24 they all bounced when he tried to cash
9:26 them out. Shawn had also borrowed a
9:29 $12,000 ring and he never returned it,
9:30 bringing the grand total to
9:33 approximately 226K. But Avi wanted more
9:35 in punitive damages. And even though
9:37 initially Shawn and his team said that
9:39 this was just incorrect, they never even
9:41 bothered to fight the lawsuit, resulting
9:43 in the judge defaulting on the case and
9:46 ordered him to pay out $356,000
9:48 in damages to Avi. Now, losing out on
9:50 money like that should have taught Shawn
9:51 a valuable lesson. But things only
9:53 managed to get worse, and his run-ins
9:55 with jewelers became more and more
9:57 frequent and somehow more bizarre. Shawn
9:59 filed a report to the Los Angeles Police
10:01 Department alleging that he had been
10:03 kidnapped during a jewelry deal gone
10:06 wrong. After getting a $225,000 watch
10:08 from a business called Avon Jewelers,
10:11 Shawn got a bad case of buyer remorse.
10:13 He paid out $185k worth of installments
10:15 before refusing to pay another scent,
10:17 believing that the watch he bought
10:19 wasn't worth the price that he was being
10:21 charged. This obviously caused conflict
10:22 between him and the jeweler. So, they
10:25 decided to set up an in-person meeting
10:27 to solve the issue. And like most
10:28 legitimate business deals, the meeting
10:31 took place in a downtown Los Angeles
10:33 parking lot on a random Tuesday night at
10:34 2:00 in the morning. What could possibly
10:36 go wrong? Shawn got in the car with the
10:38 intention of returning the watch and
10:39 swapping it for a different piece.
10:41 That's when one of the jeweler's crew
10:42 members snatched the watch from his
10:44 hands, locked the car, drove him away
10:46 from the parking lot, and dumped him in
10:48 a back alley. Shawn tweeted, "Love all
10:50 the fans. I'm okay and safe. It just
10:52 hurts to work so hard for something and
10:54 have someone thinking they can just take
10:56 it from you. While this seems like wise
10:58 words we can all agree with. This is
10:59 incredibly ironic coming from the guy
11:02 who is actively entrenched in a life of
11:04 scamming others. However, when Shawn
11:05 tried to pursue justice through the
11:07 legal system, the investigating officers
11:09 found the entire situation to be
11:11 extremely suspicious and felt that the
11:13 case was best suited for civil court.
11:15 Desawn decided he wasn't going to take
11:16 the case to court. And that seems
11:18 strange on the surface. Then it starts
11:20 to make sense when you take a closer
11:22 look. You see, rumors about Shawn's
11:23 potential financial struggles had been
11:25 rising around the time his Bentley
11:28 Gwagon and Lamborghini were repossessed.
11:29 It became even more clear that Shawn was
11:32 in a tough spot after he got sued by his
11:34 own lawyer. Supposedly, Shawn had racked
11:37 up a $17,000 bill from James Gangano for
11:39 illegal services provided sometime in
11:42 May of 2013. Now, being broke and trying
11:44 to get one over on a jewelry dealer, it
11:46 almost makes sense. But scamming your
11:48 own lawyer takes a special kind of
11:50 stupid. With his repossessed sports cars
11:52 and seemingly an empty bank account,
11:54 Shawn had hit rock bottom financially.
11:56 But now he was in too deep. Watching
11:58 everything he built slip away, only
12:00 inspired him to do whatever he could to
12:02 maintain this flashy rapper lifestyle.
12:03 He kept scamming and he kept getting
12:06 sued for it. In March of 2016, a new
12:08 lawsuit against Shawn was filed by Hoff
12:10 Jewelers. Shawn had traded in a used
12:13 Rolex for a new $59,000 watch and a
12:15 $19,000 bracelet, but never paid off the
12:18 remaining $25,000 balance despite
12:20 promising to pay the next day. Judge
12:21 ruled in the jeweler's favor and ordered
12:25 Shawn to pay out $44,000 in restitution.
12:26 From here, Shawn just kept racking up
12:29 lawsuits like it was his full-time job.
12:31 August of 2016, he was sued by another
12:33 New York City jeweler named Aquamaster,
12:36 who alleged that he had a $300,000 tab
12:38 that had gone unpaid. After picking up
12:40 nine different pieces of jewelry, he
12:41 claimed that his manager would send a
12:43 wire transfer for the full amount.
12:45 Instead, they received two checks, both
12:47 of which bounced. Shawn got sued by yet
12:49 another jeweler in April of 2017, who
12:51 claimed that Shawn bought a $46,000
12:54 Rolex with 10 grand up front, but sent
12:55 checks for the remaining amount that
12:57 also ended up bouncing. I know I'm
12:59 starting to sound like a broken record
13:01 with me basically telling the same story
13:03 over and over again, but that's just the
13:05 reality of Shawn Kingston's life at this
13:07 point. It had been over a decade since
13:09 Beautiful Girls had topped the charts
13:10 and now the only thing being discussed
13:13 in interviews were his legal troubles.
13:15 >> Different situations as far as your
13:18 jury, right? That like of course all the
13:20 jewelers seem to always be coming after
13:22 you with lawsuits and things like that.
13:24 Like why is it that they keep on coming
13:26 after you? always some tricky stuff to
13:28 it. Like what is going on with that?
13:29 >> I have paperwork with every jeweler that
13:31 I ever did business with. When I go to a
13:33 jeweler, I say, "Okay, I want this, I
13:35 want that, I want that, I want that." >> Yeah.
13:35 >> Yeah.
13:37 >> And they'll say, "Okay, 350,000." My
13:39 bad. It'll come up to more than 350.
13:40 It'll come to like 3 something, like
13:42 380. I give them 350. And they'll say,
13:44 "You have a balance." So the rest of the
13:46 30,000 you were going to do in payments.
13:48 If I'm late on one payment, it's not I'm
13:50 late on the payment because I don't have
13:51 the money to pay you. So, I'm late on
13:53 the payment because my mom handles my
13:55 business and she's all over the place
13:56 doing a million things at once because I
13:58 don't have a business manager. So, when
14:00 when so when when I'm lay on that
14:01 payment, it's not like I can't pay for
14:03 it. No, the money is there. You know
14:04 what I'm saying? Like, I live in a house
14:06 I pay 35,000 a month. That's over
14:07 $300,000 a year.
14:09 >> Yeah, you do have elevator crib.
14:10 >> I do have an elevator in my crib. So,
14:12 how is Sean Kingston broke? I have four
14:14 properties I own in Port St. Lucy. One
14:15 in one in T, you know, one in Tampa,
14:17 three in Port St. Lucy, Florida. like I
14:19 have money coming in, but it's just that
14:22 these people are very very and you know,
14:23 you know, no disrespect to dwellers, but
14:26 there are very very money hungry and
14:28 they only look at clients as a dollar
14:29 sign and that's not right.
14:30 >> Shawn's life at this point is
14:32 essentially trying to prove to anyone
14:33 and everyone that he is good for the
14:35 money, but we know that was a lie.
14:37 During the court trial with his former
14:39 lawyer, Shawn was ordered to reveal all
14:41 of his personal financial information.
14:43 Within these court documents, Shawn
14:45 confessed that he owned no property or
14:47 vehicles and was currently living with
14:49 his mother. His bank statements showed
14:52 one account with only $6.96
14:53 and two other accounts that were both in
14:56 the negative. Shawn was broke, but that
14:57 didn't mean he was exempt from future
14:59 litigation. A judge ordered Shawn to pay
15:02 out another $300,000 to settle his case
15:04 with Aqua Master Jeweler. It was also
15:07 reported in late 2020 that a warrant was
15:08 placed for Shawn's arrest on charges of
15:11 grand theft after failing to pay for
15:13 jewelry that was delivered to his home.
15:15 Shawn's legacy went from a chart topping
15:18 pop star to a relentless scammer with no
15:20 money and facing hundreds of thousands
15:22 of dollars in court costs. It's a
15:24 miracle that Shawn wasn't locked up for
15:26 skipping out on payments. It's also a
15:28 miracle that he found a way to get one
15:30 last chance to turn his life around, but
15:32 he ruined it. Despite being irrelevant
15:34 for a decade, he managed to sign a
15:36 multi-million dollar record deal with
15:37 Empire Records.
15:39 >> You know what? All my I'm I'm all
15:40 cleared up. You know what I'm saying? I
15:42 don't owe nobody no jewelry, none. I'm
15:45 good. You know what I'm saying? I got a
15:47 like I said, I did $4.2 million deal
15:49 with Empire, you know what I mean? And
15:50 I'm blessed.
15:52 >> Another thing, too, when we talk about like
15:52 like
15:54 >> and as soon as I got that, I started
15:55 clearing up all this cuz I ain't I ain't
15:58 want no karma. I don't I believe in
15:59 karma and I believe in doing, you feel
16:01 me? So, I made sure the first thing I
16:03 did was just clear up a lot of the stuff
16:04 that I needed to, you know.
16:07 >> Unsurprisingly, Shawn's 2022 album, Road
16:09 to Deliverance, saw no placements on the
16:11 charts and next to no traction on
16:14 streaming services. It was an utter
16:16 failure. And although that stings, he
16:18 was able to use his record deal money to
16:20 pay off his debts. Somehow, throughout
16:22 all these scams, he was able to avoid
16:25 jail or brutal retaliation from someone
16:28 he wronged. But the pressure to maintain
16:30 this rapper lifestyle was too high.
16:32 Shawn had grown too comfortable with the
16:34 jewelry, the expensive nightclubs, the
16:36 mansions by the beach. At first, it
16:38 seemed like a little tax slip up, a
16:40 nightclub misunderstanding, or a bad
16:42 deal with a jeweler. But the pattern
16:44 became undeniable. He had gotten away
16:46 with it for far too long, and that
16:48 desperation eventually led him to the
16:51 one place he thought he'd never be, in
16:52 federal prison.
16:53 >> Now, a very active scene outside of a
16:56 home connected to rapper Shawn Kingston.
16:57 Dozens of deputies have been going in
16:59 and out all day long and now we've
17:02 learned his mother has been arrested.
17:04 >> The indictment alleges a pattern of
17:06 behavior from April of 2023 to March of
17:08 2024 in which Shawn and his mother
17:10 intentionally defrauded a handful of
17:12 different businesses with false promises
17:15 and forged wire transfers. He claims
17:16 that Shawn would reach out to various
17:18 businesses through social media
17:20 platforms like Instagram and use his
17:22 status as a celebrity to persuade the
17:24 businesses to make special exceptions
17:25 for him, typically in the form of
17:27 discounts, lower down payments, or
17:29 simply allowing him to pay for the
17:30 products after they were provided. They
17:32 would send forged documents under the
17:34 guise of legitimate bank transfer
17:35 receipts before ignoring and
17:37 disregarding future requests for
17:38 payment. Most notable of these at the
17:41 time was his defrauding of Verver
17:42 Entertainment, which supplied Shawn with
17:46 a 232 inch colossal TV and surround
17:48 sound system, one which he never paid
17:49 for. Shawn reached out to the company in
17:52 September of 2023 on IG, claiming he
17:54 needed the biggest TV they had for his
17:55 house and claimed it was going to be
17:58 featured in an upcoming music video with
17:59 Justin Bieber. Shawn told the business
18:02 owner, Ariel Matos, "We're going to go
18:04 viral and shut the internet down. I hope
18:05 you're ready. Watch how many new
18:06 customers you get from doing this with
18:08 me." Mark my words, your life is going
18:10 to change after this. Watch and see, my
18:12 brother. The full agreement was for
18:14 Shawn to pay $47,000 upon completion,
18:16 receiving a social media agreement
18:18 discount with a smaller down payment of
18:21 just $30,000. Ariel and his crew began
18:23 installing the TV and sound system in
18:24 Shawn's home, providing updates over
18:26 text, and fully completed the project on
18:29 December 17th. However, as days went by,
18:31 Ariel tried to get in contact with
18:33 Shawn, but was ignored. On the off
18:35 chance Shawn did respond, he would just
18:36 make excuses and try to brush the
18:38 conversation away. Ariel was growing
18:40 rightfully impatient. Not getting paid
18:42 for your services would be more than
18:44 enough to frustrate someone. But he also
18:45 needed to pay his manufacturers for the
18:48 materials used for the TV, and he was
18:49 running out of time. Eventually, Shawn
18:51 sent a document that appeared to be a
18:54 bank transfer for $40,000. Although,
18:56 this was still seven grand short of
18:57 their agreement. But it didn't even
18:59 matter anyways because this document was
19:01 completely forged and the wire never hit
19:02 Ariel's bank account. Shawn invited
19:04 Ariel and his team over two separate
19:06 times to pick up a check for the money,
19:08 but turned away both times by his
19:09 cousin, who claimed that no one was
19:11 home. Ariel was in frequent contact with
19:13 Shawn's mother as well, who was also
19:14 being difficult to work with and
19:16 delaying payment. After over a month,
19:19 countless false promises, and $47,000
19:21 left unpaid, Ariel's patience had
19:23 officially run out. He writes, "I'm
19:25 suing you all. Shawn is a scammer and
19:27 not a very smart one. My lawyer has
19:29 everything ready to file. I'm suing
19:30 everyone and we will make it public.
19:32 There are no more chances. You won't
19:34 play with our time anymore. You will pay
19:36 up to the last penny, the full price of
19:38 the screen without any discount as you
19:39 also breached the part where you were
19:41 supposed to promote and advertise for
19:43 us. We trusted in Shawn. We waited more
19:45 than we should. And while Ariel was
19:47 filing that lawsuit, Shawn would get
19:49 wrapped up in another one for doing
19:51 basically the exact same thing. In March
19:53 of 2024, Shawn reached out to Andre
19:55 Nicolenko asking to purchase a watch
19:58 listed at $342,000.
20:00 He promised to pay with a wire transfer
20:02 the same day he got the watch, and Andre
20:04 generously offered him a complimentary
20:06 Rolex watch on top of the Richard Meal
20:08 he was purchasing. Shawn also mentions
20:10 that he was shooting a music video with
20:12 Justin Bieber, suggesting that he
20:13 possibly would be interested in shopping
20:15 with the jeweler. And at this point,
20:17 Justin Bieber's got to sue Shawn
20:19 Kingston as well. bro worked with him
20:21 one time 15 years ago and he was
20:23 scamming people for TVs and watches over
20:24 it. Shawn was excited about the
20:26 potential business relationship he was
20:28 creating and called Andre a brother for
20:31 life, offering loyalty and promising to
20:33 take his company to the next level. He
20:34 even promised that Justin Bieber would
20:36 be purchasing stuff from his store that
20:38 weekend. He even went as far to promise
20:40 that Shawn would only purchase watches
20:42 from him moving forward. But of course,
20:44 this was all a lie. Shawn decided to put
20:46 in orders for more extremely expensive
20:48 watches, bringing the grand total to $480,000,
20:50 $480,000,
20:52 which Shawn's mother supposedly paid for
20:54 by providing proof of a Bank of America
20:55 transfer statement. Take a look at
20:57 Shawn's manipulative behavior here. You
20:59 can see he's making demands to make sure
21:01 the watch is perfect. But bro, please
21:03 let this watch fit tomorrow link-wise.
21:05 Dealer says 44 mm will be there
21:07 tomorrow. I know I'm saying I hope the
21:09 links fit my wrist size, brother. Dealer
21:11 says everything will be perfect. Then he
21:13 lets Shawn know that he needs the money
21:15 so he can pay his suppliers because they
21:16 will not provide him with watches
21:18 anymore if he doesn't pay them. Shawn
21:20 says, "King, I trusted you. Please do
21:23 the same. Please, I won't let you down.
21:25 I believe in God. Payment will not be an
21:27 issue. I got you. I told you this from
21:29 the start. I'm with you, Papa. You're my
21:31 brother. I will never hurt you. Bring my
21:33 AP tomorrow and we'll close it out
21:35 tomorrow. Mom and Ryan will pay you.
21:37 Love you for life. See you tomorrow."
21:39 This is the type of relationship that
21:41 Shawn had with Andre and probably all of
21:43 his other jewelry dealers. And much like
21:45 all the others, Andre finally had his
21:47 tipping point. He said, "Listen to me.
21:48 Tell your lawyer and don't forget to pay
21:50 him. Soon you'll be talking to him
21:52 through bars, asking him to defend you
21:54 from federal charges. Your mama gave a
21:56 fake bank receipt and you were holding
21:58 watches that don't belong to you. There
21:59 are three cases already, so the next
22:01 step is the media and the news. You
22:03 messed with the wrong people." seemed
22:05 like Andre had finally find out that
22:07 Shawn had three separate cases against
22:09 him that were already pending from him
22:11 scamming all these different people.
22:13 These cases are all extremely similar in
22:15 nature. You know, he's promising to work
22:17 with Justin Bieber. He's promising
22:18 promotion and he's saying, "Oh, I'm a
22:20 millionaire. I got you. I love you.
22:21 You're my friend. You're my brother."
22:23 So, I'll spare you all the tiny details,
22:25 but this is kind of the spark notes.
22:27 Sean sent a receipt from First Republic
22:29 Bank totaling $50,000 for a vehicle. He
22:32 sent a $285,000 Bank of America receipt
22:35 for a watch and a nearly $160,000 wire
22:38 transfer receipt for another luxury car.
22:40 All of these documents were fake and all
22:42 of the victims filed lawsuits. Shawn
22:43 even scammed a company called Marray out
22:46 of an $86,000
22:48 custom bed. When Shawn was running out
22:50 on bar tabs and sending bounce checks to
22:52 jewelers back in 2014, you could have
22:53 made the argument that they were just
22:56 simple mistakes. But now it was clear
22:58 that Shawn wasn't just forgetful or
23:00 unorganized with his finances. All of
23:02 this was calculated. This explains why
23:04 the raid didn't just end in arrests. It
23:06 resulted in hundreds of thousands of
23:08 dollars worth of stolen goods being
23:10 removed from the home. Shawn knew what
23:12 he was doing, and he thought he could
23:13 get away with it forever. The
23:15 investigation also allowed authorities
23:17 to search through both Shawn and his
23:18 mother's phones, revealing their
23:20 behind-the-scenes operations. So, if you
23:22 still had any doubt that any of this
23:25 wasn't intentional, this will easily put
23:26 those thoughts to rest. His mother
23:28 writes, "Lawyer said if one more jeweler
23:30 says anything, they will treat it as a
23:32 criminal case. You owe four new jewelers
23:34 and ain't got no money for no more.
23:36 Please do this last one, mother. I'm
23:37 going to give you other watches back.
23:39 But I don't have money to pay, dude.
23:41 Sean, it's 120K. What's up with you and
23:43 all this jewelry, bro? Focus on your
23:45 craft. All 36 songs got to be turned in
23:48 by December 31st, and you only have 18."
23:49 while you're worried about watches.
23:51 These conversations give a good look
23:53 into the dynamic of Shawn and his
23:55 mother, allowing us to speculate on how
23:56 they got to this point. I find it
23:58 hilarious that even his mom is like,
24:00 "All right, we got to chill, bro. Like,
24:02 get in the booth, bro. Get in the
24:04 studio. Make some songs." Then again,
24:06 considering Janice's previous
24:07 convictions relating to bank fraud and
24:10 filing false documents, she may have
24:11 been running the show. She knew he was
24:13 clearly addicted to scamming and
24:15 acquiring all of these luxury things
24:17 that he did not need. But since she was
24:19 highly experienced in forging documents,
24:21 she helped him get his fix. Therefore,
24:23 she's complicit and just as guilty as
24:25 him. She worked with two individuals
24:27 named Mark Moscetta and another named
24:29 Ryan Music that she facilitated these
24:31 forged documents with. Within these
24:33 conversations, she made her intentions
24:35 very clear with her doing shady
24:37 business. Can you do this receipt so I
24:39 can have them leave me the f alone? Do
24:42 Bank of America 285K. It's my people.
24:43 Just to shut him up. The evidence
24:45 couldn't be any more clear. Both Shawn
24:47 and his mother, Janice, willingly and
24:49 intentionally scammed a plethora of
24:51 different business owners with false
24:53 promises and forged documents. They were
24:55 found guilty for a heap of different
24:57 financial crimes. Janice was sentenced
24:59 to 5 years in prison with 3 years of
25:02 probation, and Shawn was sentenced to 42
25:05 months or 3 and 1/2 years behind bars. A
25:06 heartbroken Shawn Kingston burst into
25:08 tears as US marshalss took his mother
25:10 into custody, begging them to protect
25:12 her. Shawn's legal representation
25:14 chocked up the situation to his
25:15 ignorance on money management and
25:17 claimed that he was addicted to buying
25:19 jewelry. Of course, none of these are
25:21 valid excuses. When you're addicted, you
25:23 go to rehab. When you have a lot of
25:24 money, you hire someone to help manage
25:26 it. And when you have no money, you
25:28 either cope with the fact that you can
25:30 no longer afford luxuries or you go get
25:32 your bread up. Time and time again, he
25:34 lied to people's faces, scammed
25:36 hardworking business owners, and forged
25:38 documents just to surround himself with
25:40 meaningless possessions, watches,
25:43 chains, giant TVs, luxury beds. It was
25:46 about ego, about clinging on to an image
25:47 he could no longer afford. And because
25:50 Shawn built his life on exploiting trust
25:52 for shallow status symbols, it's no
25:54 surprise that nobody cares about his
25:56 downfall. So, when he finally landed
25:58 himself in jail, it wasn't shocking. It
26:00 wasn't tragic. It was the inevitable
26:02 conclusion of someone who got exactly
