Pras Michel, best known for being part of the 1990s hip-hop group The Fugees, was found guilty Wednesday (April 26) during his federal trial of 10 criminal counts relating to international conspiracy and more, according to CNN.
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In a case that has dated back to late 2018, Michel’s curious crimes manifested into a guilty verdict in the Washington D.C court, as he “sat stoically as each count came down,” CNN reporter Holmes Lybrand recalled. These charges include conspiracy to defraud the United States, witness tampering, and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.
Most notably, Michel was convicted because of his relationship with Malaysian businessman Jho Low, who is currently avoiding justice in an unknown location in China.
The court found that Low offered $20 million to Michel to set up a photo opportunity between Low and Obama. After Michel decided that Obama was not going to be eager to meet Low, Michel instead used $800,000 of the $20 million to donate to Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.
Then five years later in 2017, Michel tried to work with the Trump administration on Low’s behalf to have them stop investigating Low for a separate crime where he embezzled billions of dollars from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund. Low sent Michel $100 million to do this favor for him.
When testifying, though, Michel swore that the money Low gave to him was not caveated, and he was allowed to spend it on whatever he wanted. “I could have bought 12 elephants with it,” he said in court. This would mean that Michel was not aiding in foreign money being used to influence U.S. government affairs. The court did not seem to agree with him though.
Additionally, Michel also used his communication with Trump’s team to work to foster his relationship with the Chinese government. On China’s behalf, he looked to have billionaire Guo Wengui, who was a criminal Chinese dissident, extradited back to China. To help absolve him, Michel came forward about his work with China to the FBI, becoming an FBI informant and feeding them information he learned while in correspondence with China.
Even after this, though, Michel still met a disappointing fate on Wednesday. He has not yet been sentenced, but he is now facing up to two decades in prison for this guilty verdict. Instead of speaking to the media following the court’s decision, Michel’s attorney David Kenner made a statement to reporters.
“We are extremely disappointed in that result but are very, very confident in the ultimate outcome of this case,” Kenner said. “If we do move to a sentencing hearing I remain very confident we will certainly appeal this case. This is not over.”
Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
