Rapper Fugees Brass sentenced to 14 years in prison for illegal donations to Obama campaign | Fugees

Grammy Award-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, of the band The Fugees, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for his involvement in a billion-dollar Malaysian scam to funnel money into US politics.

The 52-year-old founding member of 1990s hit trio The Fugees was convicted of money laundering and campaign finance violations in 2023 in the global foreign influence scandal led by Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho.

In April 2023, a federal jury convicted Michelle on 10 charges, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. The trial in Washington, D.C., included testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Justice Department prosecutors said federal sentencing guidelines recommended life in prison for Michel, who they said “betrayed his country for money” and “lied unapologetically and relentlessly to carry out his plans.”

They wrote that his sentence “must reflect the breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the dangers threatening his country, and the extent of his greed.”

Defense lawyer Peter Zeidenberg said his client’s 14-year prison sentence was “completely disproportionate to the crime.” Michel will appeal his conviction and sentence, according to his lawyer.

Zeidenberg had recommended three years in prison. Michel’s lawyers said in a lawsuit that a life sentence would be an “extremely ridiculous” sentence for Michel considering it is usually reserved for murderous terrorists and drug cartel leaders.

They continued: “The government’s position would make Inspector Javert recoil and, if anything, simply demonstrates how easy it is to manipulate the guidelines to achieve ridiculous results, and how poorly equipped they are, at least on this occasion, to determine a fair and just sentence.”

In early 2010, Lu – now a fugitive believed to be hiding in China – used billions of dollars stolen from a Malaysian government investment fund known as 1MDB to invest in luxury American real estate, fine art and Hollywood films such as DiCaprio’s “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Lu has maintained his innocence.

Michel was accused of helping Le secretly transfer money to President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign through shell companies, to hide the origins of the donations.

Michel also tried to end the Justice Department’s investigation into Le, tampered with two witnesses and perjured himself during the trial, prosecutors said.

Originally from Brooklyn, Michel founded the Fugees with his childhood friends Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean.

The group won two Grammy Awards at the height of its popularity in the 1990s and has sold tens of millions of albums.

In August 2024, the judge denied Michel’s request for a new trial based in part on his defense attorney’s use of artificial intelligence software during closing trial arguments. The judges said these and other errors in the trial did not amount to a serious miscarriage of justice.