Fugees rapper Pras Michel says he should stay out of prison while he appeals his illegal foreign lobbying convictions and resulting 14-year prison sentence, citing “egregious” errors during his trial.
The rapper, who rose to fame alongside his Fugee bandmates Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean, is set to surrender next month to serve his lengthy sentence for running a “foreign influence campaign” to get the U.S. to drop an investigation into fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low.
But in a new filing on Friday (Dec. 19), his lawyers say he should be allowed to appeal the verdict before he reports to prison, since his appeal will reveal huge problems with his 2023 jury trial and could end in “reversal of nearly every count.”
“Neither the D.C. Circuit nor any other Court of Appeals has ever confronted this extraordinary degree of improper jury influence, which appears to be unprecedented,” Michel’s lawyers write.
In a statement, Michel spokeswoman Erica Dumas said: “This wasn’t a fair trial. This was a coronation of guilt. We’re confident the appeals court will recognize this case for what it is, an unprecedented trial that denies Pras’ constitutional right to an impartial jury.”
Composed of Hill, Jean and Michel, the Fugees rose to fame in the 1990s with hits like “Killing Me Softly,” “Ready or Not” and “Fu-Gee-La.” After splitting up in 1998, the three each had successful solo careers and mostly stayed separate until recent years, during which they’ve attempted multiple reunion tours.
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In 2019, Michel was hit with sweeping federal criminal charges over accusations that he funneled money from Low, the mastermind of the billion-dollar 1MDB embezzlement scheme, to a lobbying campaign aimed at getting the first Trump administration to drop its investigation into the disgraced financier. He was also accused of secretly funneling Low’s money to Barack Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign, and of later trying to influence an extradition case on behalf of China.
In April 2023, following a trial that included testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Michel was convicted on 10 counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. Earlier this year, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison and ordered to forfeit a whopping $64 million allegedly linked to the scheme.
Last week, Michel filed a notice of appeal, the standard first step to appealing a verdict. Such filings are typically sparse, leaving more detailed arguments to later briefings. But in his Friday motion seeking to stay out of prison, Michel’s lawyers offered a detailed preview of how they’ll appeal the case.
Among other major issues, they say the judge repeatedly told the jury “that Michel was guilty” by referring to him as a “co-conspirator” in open court. They also claim the judge allowed an FBI agent on the witness stand to “opine on at least 25 occasions that Michel was guilty.”
“If decided in Michel’s favor, these and the other substantial questions below would result in a new trial, reversal of nearly every count, and, at a minimum, a reduced sentence that would likely be less than the duration of Michel’s appeal,” the rapper’s lawyers write.
