Pras Michel (left) with Lauryn Hill and Wycleff Jean of the Fugees, photo by B+

Prazkarat “Pras” Michel, a founding member of hip-hop group the Fugees, was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for his part in a criminal conspiracy to funnel millions of dollars from a foreign donor to President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. Michel was convicted in April 2023 of 10 criminal counts, including corruption, acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China, illegal lobbying, witness tampering, money laundering and campaign finance violations.

Michel played the role of a self-identified “celebrity surrogate” by accepting $120 million from Malaysian disgraced financier Low Taek Jho, who sought political influence in the United States. The Grammy-winning rapper distributed a portion of that money to a network of 20 straw donors for the Obama campaign.

In 2018, Michel became further embroiled in criminal activities surrounding Low through his attempts to secretly persuade the Trump administration to abandon an embezzlement investigation into the international fugitive, as well as to extradite a Chinese dissident. Following his 2019 indictment for four criminal counts of illegal political contributions, the performer tampered with two witnesses and perjured himself at trial.

Michel testified in his defence during his years-long legal saga, but declined to address the court on Thursday before his sentencing by US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. Others who testified during the wide-ranging trial to a scandal of political intrigue included Leonardo DiCaprio, who asserted that Mr. Low presented himself as a legitimate businessman while bankrolling The Wolf of Wall Street, and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Michel had been facing a maximum sentence of 22 years. His attorney, Peter Zeidenberg, had recommended a three-year sentence and called the court’s ruling “completely disproportional to the offense,” drawing on comparable sentences for terrorists and cartel leaders and insisting that his client plans to appeal both his conviction and sentence. Prosecutors had recommended life imprisonment, arguing that “his sentence should reflect the breadth and depth of his crimes, his indifference to the risks to his country, and the magnitude of his greed.”

Low, who is notoriously accused of stealing $4.5 billion from Malaysia’s 1 Malaysian Development Berhad sovereign wealth fund, has maintained his innocence while living under the radar of international law in China. “Low’s motivation for giving Mr. Michel money to donate was not so that he could achieve some policy objective,” Michel’s attorneys wrote in court documents. “Instead, Low simply wanted to obtain a photograph with himself and then-President Obama.”

Michel was ordered to forfeit nearly $65 million last month. He is expected to surrender on Jan. 27.