A founding member of the hip-hop group the Fugees was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for his role in a foreign influence scheme that illegally funneled millions of dollars to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.
The rapper Prakazrel Michel, known as Pras, orchestrated a sprawling international conspiracy in which he accepted $120 million from Low Taek Jho, a Malaysian financier who wanted to gain political influence in the United States, the Justice Department said. Mr. Michel distributed some of that money to a network of about 20 straw donors, who then donated it to the Obama campaign.
In 2018, Mr. Michel engaged in another scheme to persuade the Trump administration and the Justice Department to drop federal embezzlement investigations into Mr. Low. Mr. Michel also pressed for the extradition of a Chinese dissident back to China from the United States.
Mr. Michel was convicted in April 2023 of 10 criminal counts, including money laundering, illegal lobbying, witness tampering and campaign finance violations, according to court documents.
Last month, he was ordered to forfeit nearly $65 million for his role in the scheme.
Mr. Michel’s lawyer, Peter Zeidenberg, said that the verdict against his client was unsupported by evidence and that the sentence was “completely disproportional” to the facts of the case. He said that Mr. Michel planned to appeal.
Mr. Zeidenberg had asked that Mr. Michel be sentenced to three years in prison, arguing that his efforts and Mr. Low’s policy objectives were not related. Instead, Mr. Low “simply wanted to obtain a photograph with himself and then-President Obama,” according to court documents.
Prosecutors recommended that Mr. Michel be sentenced to life in prison, in part because he had lied “unapologetically and unrelentingly” to carry out his scheme, according to court documents.
“After Michel was caught, he tampered with witnesses and then perjured himself at trial,” the Justice Department said in its sentencing memorandum. “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.”
Mr. Michel’s sentencing in U.S. District Court in Washington caps off a yearslong legal battle. Federal officials learned of his activities with Mr. Low in 2017, and Mr. Michel was first charged in 2019.
His 2023 conviction followed an extensive trial that included testimony from several prominent figures in entertainment and politics, including Leonardo DiCaprio, who testified that Mr. Low seemed like a legitimate businessman years ago.
In October 2023, Mr. Michel requested a new trial after arguing that his lead lawyer during the trial had used artificial intelligence to craft a “frivolous and ineffectual” closing argument. His new legal team also wrote that those who defended him during his trial had been “deficient throughout.” The motion was not granted.
Erica Dumas, Mr. Michel’s spokeswoman, said he was “deeply grateful for the unwavering support of those who stand by him as he faces the road ahead.”
Hannah Ziegler is a general assignment reporter for The Times, covering topics such as crime, business, weather, pop culture and online trends.
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