(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) One of the founding members of hip-hop group The Fugees was sentenced to 14 years in prison for acting as a foreign agent and violating campaign finance laws tied to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign.
District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly delivered the sentence Friday, directly addressing Pras Michel, a former entrepreneur who gained popularity in the 1990s for hit songs Killing Me Softly with His Song and Ready or Not.
The sentence, described by Michel’s defense attorney as excessive, pales in comparison to the life sentence federal prosecutors sought for his 10-count guilty verdict that included witness tampering, conspiracy and other offenses.
Rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees was sentenced 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 Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.
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— ABC News (@ABC) November 21, 2025
As revealed at the 2023 trial, Michel used foreign money to influence both the Obama and Trump administrations in an illegal effort to derail an investigation into Malaysian financier Jho Low and his 1MDB operation.
He also tried to pressure the federal government to send a Chinese national back to China, acting under orders from Low and the vice minister of public safety of the People’s Republic of China.
At the center of the case was Michel’s failure to register as a foreign agent. The scheme started when Low sent over $120 million to Michel.
The rapper-turned-foreign-lobbyist then funneled the money through 20 straw donors into Obama’s campaign.
He then concealed the true source of the funds, causing the Obama campaign to file false disclosures with the Federal Election Commission. Michel himself filed a false document with the FEC.
Low forfeited $100 million in assets to the DOJ in connection with two civil cases but remains an international fugitive both in the U.S. and in his home country.
“Prakazrel Michel betrayed his country for money,” prosecutors wrote in 2024. “He funneled millions of dollars in prohibited foreign contributions into a United States presidential election and attempted to manipulate a sitting president to serve a foreign criminal and a foreign power.”
