Pras Michel from the Fugees sentenced to 14 years in prison for political finance conspiracy

Fugees rapper Pras Michel was sentenced to 14 years in prison today following a 2023 conviction for his part in an illegal campaign finance conspiracy with fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low, per AP. Last month, Michel was ordered to forfeit $64 million that he pocketed from the scheme. Michel, who a federal jury found guilty of 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered foreign agent, had waged a “foreign influence campaign” to drop a U.S. investigation into Low, funneling money from Low into political campaigns. In 2012, for instance, he covertly funneled money from Low into Barack Obama’s reelection campaign. More recently, he attempted a similar lobbying campaign with the Trump administration in hopes of getting the U.S. government to stop its inquiry into the financier behind the 1MDB embezzlement scheme. That scheme, allegedly masterminded by Low, saw the Malaysian Prime Minister transfer millions of dollars from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund (1MDB) to his personal bank account. It’s considered one of the greatest financial scandals in history, and it’s almost certainly the greatest one with a Grammy-winning rapper near the heart of it.