Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, a founding member of the iconic hip-hop group Fugees, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after being convicted in a massive political and international influence scheme.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly handed down the sentence on Thursday in Washington, D.C., following Michel’s conviction on 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. The 52-year-old rapper chose not to address the court before his sentence was read.
In April 2023, a federal jury found Michel guilty of funneling millions of dollars in illegal foreign contributions into former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. Prosecutors said that Michel had funneled the money through straw donors, using funds provided by Malaysian billionaire Low Taek Jho, known as Jho Low.
The Justice Department called Michel’s actions a betrayal of national interests. Prosecutors said that the former Fugees star “betrayed his country for money” and “lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his schemes.”
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They further argued that “his sentence should reflect the breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the risks to his country, and the magnitude of his greed,” according to their sentencing memo.
Prosecutors had pushed for a much harsher punishment, saying federal guidelines supported a life sentence. However, Michel’s defense team is looking at the situation quite differently. His attorneys wrote in their filing, “The Government’s position is one that would cause Inspector Javert to recoil and, if anything, simply illustrates just how easily the Guidelines can be manipulated to produce absurd results, and how poorly equipped they are, at least on this occasion, to determine a fair and just sentence.”
Defense attorney Peter Zeidenberg called the 14-year penalty “completely disproportionate to the offense.” He had urged the court to impose a three-year sentence, arguing that a life term was “absurdly high” and generally reserved “for deadly terrorists and drug cartel leaders.” Zeidenberg also mentioned that Michel would appeal both his conviction and his sentence.
The trial featured testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. DiCaprio’s involvement came because of his connection to Jho Low, who was one of the main financiers behind The Wolf of Wall Street, a 2013 film in which DiCaprio starred.
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Prosecutors alleged that Michel took over $120 million from Low and tried to use his political connections to influence U.S. officials. They said that he attempted to end a Justice Department investigation into Low, tampered with witnesses, and lied under oath during the trial. Low remains a fugitive as of now and has maintained his innocence.
Michel’s lawyers, however, provided a different picture regarding Low. According to the defense, “Low’s motivation for giving Mr. Michel money to donate was not so that he could achieve some policy objective. Instead, Low simply wanted to obtain a photograph with himself and then-President Obama.”
Michel is a Brooklyn native born to Haitian immigrants. As reported by the New York Post, “Michel, a Brooklyn native whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti, was a founding member of the Fugees along with childhood friends Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. Their hip-hop band won two Grammy Awards and sold tens of millions of albums.”
In August 2024, Michel’s bid for a new trial was rejected. The rapper’s legal team now plans to continue the fight, as mentioned by his attorney.
