Pras Michel of the Fugees sentenced to 14 years : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4510x3007+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5d%2F66%2F2433c9bd410fbfe4c2c6b6b1eea6%2Fap25324780985712.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4510x3007+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5d%2F66%2F2433c9bd410fbfe4c2c6b6b1eea6%2Fap25324780985712.jpg" class="img" alt="Prakazrel "Pras" Michel, a member of the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees, accompanied by defense lawyer David Kenner, right, arrives at federal court April 3, 2023, in Washington." fetchpriority="high"/> Prakazrel "Pras" Michel, a member of the Nineteen Nineties hip-hop group the Fugees, accompanied by protection lawyer David Kenner, proper, arrives at federal court docket April 3, 2023, in Washington. Andrew Harnik/AP disguise caption

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Andrew Harnik/AP WASHINGTON — Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel "Pras" Michel of the Fugees was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in jail for a case through which he was convicted of illegally funneling thousands and thousands of {dollars} in overseas contributions to former President Barack Obama's 2012 reelection marketing campaign.

Michel, 52, declined to handle the court docket earlier than U.S. District Choose Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him.

In April 2023, a federal jury convicted Michel of 10 counts, together with conspiracy and appearing as an unregistered agent of a overseas authorities. The trial in Washington, D.C., included testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Lawyer Basic Jeff Periods.

Justice Division prosecutors mentioned federal sentencing pointers advisable a life sentence for Michel, whom they mentioned "betrayed his nation for cash" and "lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to hold out his schemes."

"His sentence ought to replicate the breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the dangers to his nation, and the magnitude of his greed," they wrote.

Protection lawyer Peter Zeidenberg mentioned his consumer's 14-year sentence is "utterly disproportionate to the offense." Michel will attraction his conviction and sentence, in accordance with his lawyer.

Zeidenberg had advisable a three-year jail sentence. A life sentence could be an "absurdly excessive" punishment for Michel on condition that it's usually reserved for lethal terrorists and drug cartel leaders, Michel's attorneys mentioned in a court docket submitting.

"The Authorities's place is one that may trigger Inspector Javert to recoil and, if something, merely illustrates simply how simply the Tips might be manipulated to provide absurd outcomes, and the way poorly outfitted they're, at the very least on this event, to find out a good and simply sentence," they wrote.

Michel, a Brooklyn native whose mother and father immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti, was a founding member of the Fugees together with childhood pals Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. Their hip-hop band received two Grammy Awards and offered tens of thousands and thousands of albums.

Michel obtained over $120 million from Malaysian billionaire Low Taek Jho — often known as Jho Low — and steered a few of that cash via straw donors to Obama's marketing campaign.

Michel additionally tried to finish a Justice Division investigation of Low, tampered with two witnesses and perjured himself at trial, prosecutors mentioned.

Low, who has lived in China, was one of many major financiers of "The Wolf of Wall Road," a film starring DiCaprio. Low is a fugitive however has maintained his innocence.

"Low's motivation for giving Mr. Michel cash to donate was not in order that he may obtain some coverage goal. As a substitute, Low merely wished to acquire {a photograph} with himself and then-President Obama," Michel's attorneys wrote.

In August 2024, the decide rejected Michel's request for a brand new trial primarily based partly on his protection lawyer's use of a generative AI program throughout his closing of the trial's arguments. The judges mentioned that and different trial errors did not quantity to a severe miscarriage of justice.