Fugees Founder Pras Michél Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison

Pras Michél, an original member of the legendary hip-hop trio The Fugees, has been sentenced to 14 years in a federal penitentiary. The ruling was handed down on Thursday, coming more than a year after a jury found him guilty on ten felony counts last April. His convictions were for conspiring to breach campaign finance regulations during Barack Obama's 2012 re-election bid and for operating as an unregistered agent of a foreign power while attempting to influence the Trump White House in 2017.

In addition to the prison term, the judge ordered three years of supervised release. Legal analysts noted that the sentence fell well below the potential maximum of 22 years. This development follows a separate financial penalty imposed last month, when Michél was ordered to forfeit more than $64 million. This substantial amount was tied to his involvement in a foreign influence operation that sought to pressure the U.S. government into dropping its investigation of Malaysian financier Jho Low. Low is the alleged mastermind behind the massive 1MDB scandal, a multi-billion dollar fraud that siphoned funds from a Malaysian state investment fund and involved illicit spending on luxury real estate, art, and even financing the film "The Wolf of Wall Street."

The path to sentencing was lengthy, beginning with Michél's indictment in 2019 and culminating in a three-week trial four years later. The prosecution's case featured testimony from high-profile figures, including actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who had socialized with Jho Low. Following the guilty verdict, Michél moved for a new trial, asserting that his then-lawyer, David Kenner, had relied on an experimental artificial intelligence program to prepare his closing statements. Kenner, a defense attorney previously known for representing Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight, later admitted to a misdemeanor contempt charge for improperly handling evidence in Michél's case and was sentenced to one year of probation.

Despite the court's decision, Michél remains defiant and plans to appeal. In a conversation with Variety after his conviction, he conceded the challenges ahead, stating, "I’m going to fight, and I’m going to appeal, but there’s a possibility that I’m going in while I’m fighting. It’s just the reality." His legal team is expected to argue that his previous counsel's use of untested AI technology constituted ineffective assistance, a novel argument in a high-stakes criminal appeal. He is required to report to prison and commence his sentence on January 27.