Photo Credit: Pras Michel for Miami Film Festival / CC by 2.0
Pras Michel of the Fugees was sentenced to 14 years in prison for illegally funneling millions in foreign contributions to the 2012 presidential campaign of Barack Obama.
Rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of Fugees fame was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for his role in a case in which he was convicted of illegally funneling foreign contribution funds to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.
Pras was convicted by a federal jury two years ago on 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. The highly publicized trial in Washington, D.C., included testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Peter Zeidenberg, Pras’ defense attorney, said his client’s 14-year sentence is “completely disproportionate to the offense,” and that he will appeal his conviction and sentence. Meanwhile, prosecutors said federal sentencing guidelines actually recommended a life sentence for Michel, and that the sentence “should reflect the breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the risks to his country, and the magnitude of his greed.”
The trial and Michel’s offenses stem from his acquisition of over $120 million from Malaysian billionaire Jho Low—who remains a fugitive—which he funneled toward Obama’s reelection campaign through straw donors. Michel also tried to end a Justice Department investigation into Low, tampered with two witnesses, and perjured himself at trial, according to prosecutors.
Pras attempted to request a new trial based in part on his original defense attorney’s use of a generative AI program during his closing arguments at trial. But judges determined that this and other trial errors didn’t amount to a “serious miscarriage of justice.”
Pras Michel, a Brooklyn native and the child of Haitian immigrants, was a founding member of the Fugees, alongside his childhood friends Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. The group sold millions of albums and won two Grammy Awards during their peak in the 1990s.
