Fugees’ Pras Michel sentenced to 14 years for illegal donations, foreign influence

Pras Michel, a founding member of the Fugees and a two-time Grammy Award winner, was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison after he was convicted on charges of conspiracy and illegal foreign lobbying.

The singer was part of a foreign influence scheme that illegally funneled millions of dollars to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, The New York Times reported.

At a hearing Thursday in a Washington, D.C., federal court, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly also sentenced Michel, 53, to three years of probation. He was ordered last month to forfeit $64 million allegedly linked to the scheme.

Michel was convicted in April 2023 on 10 counts, including violating campaign finance laws during the 2012 presidential campaign and illegally lobbying the Trump administration in 2018.

Michel, Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill formed the Fugees in 1990. They rose to fame with hits like “Killing Me Softly,” “Ready or Not” and “Fu-Gee-La.” After splitting up in 1998, the three members went on to have successful solo careers.

According to the Justice Department, Michel orchestrated an international conspiracy in which he accepted $120 million from Low Taek Jho, a Malaysian financier who wanted to gain political influence in the United States. Michel distributed some of that money to a network of about 20 straw donors, who then donated it to the Obama campaign.

In 2018, Michel engaged in a scheme to persuade the Trump administration and the Justice Department to drop federal embezzlement investigations into Low. He also lobbied for the extradition of a Chinese dissident back to China from the United States.

Michel’s attorney, Peter Zeidenberg, said that the verdict against his client was unsupported by evidence and that the sentence was “completely disproportional” to the facts of the case.

Zeidenberg, who had recommended a three-year prison sentence, added that Michel plans to appeal the verdict.

Erica Dumas, in a statement, said that “throughout his career, Pras has broken barriers.”

“This is not the end of his story,” she said. “He appreciates the outpouring of support as he approaches the next chapter.”

“After Michel was caught, he tampered with witnesses and then perjured himself at trial,” the Justice Department said in its sentencing memorandum. “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.”

©2025 Cox Media GroupThe singer was part of a foreign influence scheme that illegally funneled millions of dollars to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign.