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 tens of millions 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 Decide 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 Legal professional Normal Jeff Periods.
Justice Division prosecutors mentioned federal sentencing tips beneficial 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 mirror 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 shopper’s 14-year sentence is “utterly disproportionate to the offense.” Michel will attraction his conviction and sentence, based on his lawyer.
Zeidenberg had beneficial a three-year jail sentence. A life sentence can be an “absurdly excessive” punishment for Michel on condition that it’s sometimes reserved for lethal terrorists and drug cartel leaders, Michel’s attorneys mentioned in a court docket submitting.
“The Authorities’s place is one that might trigger Inspector Javert to recoil and, if something, merely illustrates simply how simply the Pointers could be manipulated to provide absurd outcomes, and the way poorly outfitted they’re, not less than on this event, to find out a good and simply sentence,” they wrote.
