UPDATED 04/27/23, 4:10 p.m. ET: “We are of course very disappointed, but I am very confident in the ultimate outcome of this case,” David Kenner, of the Kenner Law Firm, said in an email to Complex.
Kenner continued, “Her honor gave us a briefing schedule that will allow us to brief a number of motions that I made during the course of this trial. That briefing schedule extends out into July. Her honor pointed out today that after those decisions are made, based on the briefs, she will determine whether it is still necessary to move to a sentencing hearing. If we do move to a sentencing hearing, I remain very confident that we will, with certainty, appeal this case. This is not over. I remain very, very confident that we will ultimately prevail in this matter.”
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Prakazrel Michel, better known as Pras, was found guilty Wednesday for his involvement in an international conspiracy scheme in which millions of dollars in foreign money was used for the purpose of influencing U.S. government officials.
According to TMZ, Pras, who was deemed guilty on all 10 counts, faces up to 20 years in prison. His attorney David Kenner expressed disappointment with the jury’s decision, and vowed to appeal the ruling.
Pras made separate donations to the campaigns of Barack Obama and Donald Trump with money supplied to him by Jho Low, the alleged mastermind behind the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal. Through his contributions, Low wanted to take advantage of Pras’ alleged relationship with Obama, and connect with someone associated with the Trump administration who could bury an embezzlement case.
The Fugees MC was charged with campaign finance violations in 2019. He was approached about taking a plea deal that would have tossed all of his charges, and returned a portion of the $74 million seized from his four bank accounts. However, he was so sure of his innocence that he turned down the deal and decided to move forward with a trial that now had eight additional charges tacked onto it.
During his testimony in the trial, Pras said he spoke with the FBI, which drew backlash from his fans. 50 Cent, who criticized him via Instagram, wrote, “I knew this fool was a rat. I’m glad I never fvck with this guy.” While he admitted to speaking with the FBI, Pras did not say that he was working with them.
“Simply stated, if Pras had been an informant for the government, he wouldn’t be on trial right now. The government does not prosecute and threaten its informants with more than two decades of jail time,” a rep for Pras told Complex. “Pras never was an ‘informant’ for the FBI...”
A date for his sentencing has not been announced.
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