WASHINGTON — Grammy Award-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in prison in a case in which he was found guilty of illegally funneling millions of dollars in foreign donations to former President Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign.
Michel, 52, declined to speak in court before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him.
In April 2023, a federal jury found Michel guilty. out of 10 pointsincluding 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 a life sentence for Michel, who they said “betrayed his country for money” and “brazenly and ruthlessly lied to further his agenda.”
“His sentence must reflect the breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the risks to his country and the extent of his greed,” they wrote.
Defense lawyer Peter Seidenberg said his client's 14-year sentence was “completely disproportionate to the crime”. Michel will appeal his conviction and sentence, his lawyer said.
Seidenberg recommended a sentence of three years in prison. A life sentence would be an “absurdly high” sentence for Michel, given that it is typically reserved for deadly terrorists and drug cartel leaders, Michel's lawyers said in a court document.
“The Government's position may make Inspector Javert recoil and, if anything, simply illustrates how easily the Guidelines can be manipulated to produce absurd results, and how ill-equipped they are, at least in this case, to deliver a fair and just verdict,” they wrote.
