Fugees rapper Prakazrel Samuel “Pras” Michel has been sentenced to 14 years in jail after being discovered responsible of prison conspiracy and unlawful overseas lobbying, Billboard experiences. Washington, D.C., federal choose Colleen Kollar-Kotelly handed down the sentence on Thursday, November 20. Pras will serve 14 years out of a most 22, adopted by three years of probation. Final month, he was additionally ordered to forfeit almost $65 million to the U.S. authorities.
Pras was first charged with marketing campaign finance crimes in 2019, although the case didn’t go to trial till 2023. He was accused of illegally funneling cash from Malaysian fugitive Low Taek Jho (aka Jho Low) into former President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election marketing campaign, and later making an attempt to affect President Donald J. Trump and his administration to finish a Division of Justice investigation into Jho Low. Throughout the trial, Leonardo DiCaprio was referred to as as a witness attributable to Jho Low’s function in funding The Wolf of Wall Road.
Pras was finally discovered responsible of all 10 costs introduced towards him, which included conspiracy to defraud the USA authorities and making overseas and conduit marketing campaign contributions, one rely of concealing materials info, and two counts of constructing a false entry in a file in reference to the conspiracy. He subsequently filed a movement for retrial, claiming that his legal professional, David Kenner, had used synthetic intelligence to jot down his closing argument.
Final yr, Pras sued Ms. Lauryn Hill, blaming her for the cancellation of a deliberate Fugees tour. His new attorneys reportedly plan to enchantment each his sentence and convictions within the prison conspiracy case.
