Posted on 11/21/2025 6:56:49 AM PST by xxqqzz
WASHINGTON (AP) — Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for a case in which he was convicted of illegally funneling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.
Michel, 52, declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him.
In April 2023, a federal jury convicted Michel of 10 counts, including 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, whom they said “betrayed his country for money” and “lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his schemes.”
“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,” they wrote.
Defense attorney Peter Zeidenberg said his client’s 14-year sentence is “completely disproportionate to the offense.” Michel will appeal his conviction and sentence, according to his lawyer.
Zeidenberg had recommended a three-year prison sentence. A life sentence would be an “absurdly high” punishment for Michel given that it is typically reserved for deadly terrorists and drug cartel leaders, Michel’s attorneys said in a court filing.
“The Government’s position is one that would cause Inspector Javert to recoil and, if anything, simply illustrates just how easily the Guidelines can be manipulated to produce absurd results, and how poorly equipped they are, at least on this occasion, to determine a fair and just sentence,” they wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
“By any means necessary”
13 years too late...............
Obammy keep the cash?
Obama says thaaaank youuuu!!! Pres who?
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/06/us/politics/06clinton.html
Vinod Sekhar, chief executive of the Petra Group, a rubber technology company, invited former President Bill Clinton to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday.
Former President Bill Clinton visited Malaysia on Friday to deliver his first paid speech since his wife, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, was selected Monday by President-elect Barack Obama to be secretary of state.
There are plenty of ‘off the wall’ people in that group Fugees. A few years back, I recall reading that Aswad Ayinde, the director of the Fugees award winning “Killing Me Softly” music video was convicted of sexual assault.
**Nigerian born Aswad Ayinde was sentenced to 90 (Ninety!!) years in prison in 2013 after being found guilty of multiple charges related to the sexual abuse of his four daughters.
The abuse spanned decades, during which he fathered six children with his daughters in an attempt to create a “pure family bloodline’.
Maybe he can “rap” on others and get a reduced sentence.
“Obama says thaaaank youuuu!!! Pres who?”
Politicians say thank you for showing us how you did it so we can do it better.
This has to be the Bee — this sort of thing NEVER HAPPENS.
That’s what the Dems have said for YEARS AND YEARS.
Clearly, this is just a joke post....
[/sarc for those that need the tag]
♪ They call me by a number not a name, Lord, Lord
Gotta do my time, gotta do my time
With an aching heart and a worried mind. ♪
Rap Rap Rap Rap Rap, they call him ‘The Rapper’
Rap Rap Rap, you know what he’s after
Obama’s brother in Kenya would have been a vast improvement over the interloper Barry.
Why not? It worked for the Habsburgs.
Or so the Habsburgs would have told you.
The first time I saw a pic of film director
Quentin Tarrantino, I wondered if he was distantly related to that Austrian or Spanish bloodline.
Turns out, he’s just kinda homely.
Don’t worry, I’m sure Obie will come racing to the rescue. Loyalty is, after all, a signal characteristic of the Democrat party. Oh, wait, I see I misspelled “treachery”.
Maybe he can start a men’s choir at the Federal prison he ends up in.
Maybe he can start a men’s choir at the Federal prison he ends up in.
Prisoners of love
Blue skies above
Can’t keep our hearts in jail
And it took 30 MONTHS until sentencing?
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