It\u2019s not every day that a Grammy-winning rapper ends up behind bars for election fraud \u2014 but yesterday delivered exactly that. Pras Michel, a founding member of the Fugees, was hit with a 14-year prison sentence for, among other things, funneling millions in foreign cash into Barack Obama\u2019s 2012 campaign. He was convicted back in 2023, and now the judge has finally handed down the punishment:<\/p>\n
A founding member of the hip-hop group the Fugees was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for his role in a foreign influence scheme that illegally funneled millions of dollars to former President Barack Obama\u2019s 2012 re-election campaign.<\/p>\n
The rapper Prakazrel Michel, known as Pras, orchestrated a sprawling 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, the Justice Department said. Mr. Michel distributed some of that money to a network of about 20 straw donors, who then donated it to the Obama campaign.<\/p>\n
The prosecutors in this case were aiming for a life sentence, while Michel\u2019s attorneys contended that three years would be more appropriate and have indicated plans to appeal:<\/p>\n
Defense attorney Peter Zeidenberg said his client\u2019s 14-year sentence is \u201ccompletely disproportionate to the offense.\u201d Michel will appeal his conviction and sentence, according to his lawyer.<\/p>\n
Zeidenberg had recommended a three-year prison sentence. A life sentence would be an \u201cabsurdly high\u201d punishment for Michel given that it is typically reserved for deadly terrorists and drug cartel leaders, Michel\u2019s attorneys said in a court filing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government\u2019s position is one that would cause Inspector Javert to recoil and, if anything, simply illustrates just how easily the Guidelines can be manipulated to produce absurd results, and how poorly equipped they are, at least on this occasion, to determine a fair and just sentence,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also the lingering question of just how competent Michel\u2019s legal team actually was. In 2023 he ditched his original lawyer and brought in a new crew, who immediately argued for a retrial \u2014 claiming his previous attorney had relied on AI to write his closing argument.<\/p>\n
Yes, really. His defense was literally outsourced to a chatbot, and apparently the AI flubbed it. Never doubt ChatGPT when it tells you it \u201ccan make mistakes. Check important info.\u201d Here we go:<\/p>\n
Michel\u2019s new counsel from ArentFox Schiff said that the AI-generated closing argument by Michel\u2019s previous lawyer, David Kenner, was a resounding flop: \u201cKenner\u2019s closing argument made frivolous arguments, misapprehended the required elements, conflated the schemes and ignored critical weaknesses in the government\u2019s case,\u201d the brief said.<\/p>\n
By using an experimental AI program to generate his closing argument, the brief said, Kenner botched \u201cthe single most important portion\u201d of Michel\u2019s jury trial\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cThe AI program failed Kenner, and Kenner failed Michel,\u201d the brief said. \u201cThe closing argument was deficient, unhelpful and a missed opportunity that prejudiced the defense.\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n
The brief listed a litany of purported failures by Kenner, in addition to the alleged AI closing argument fiasco. Among the most serious is ArentFox\u2019s accusation that Kenner, who is not an expert in complex white-collar cases or lobbying regulations, outsourced trial preparation to inexperienced contract attorneys at an e-discovery company co-founded by Israely, an old friend.<\/p>\n
So no, Michel clearly didn\u2019t have the sharpest legal defense money can buy \u2014 and his request for a new trial was denied last year. But let\u2019s be honest: the fact that his lawyer couldn\u2019t magically secure an acquittal, AI or no AI, doesn\u2019t mean the attorney was the core problem here.<\/p>\n
Michel\u2019s real problem was the mountain of evidence. And prosecutors \u2014 who, unlike his lawyer, did not rely on artificial intelligence \u2014 laid out exactly how serious his crimes were in their sentencing memo:<\/p>\n
Prakazrel Michel betrayed his country for money. 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. Over nearly a decade, Michel\u2019s conspiracies sought to exploit and deceive the White House, the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, political committees, the Federal Election Commission, straw donors, FBI agents, multiple financial institutions, and his own co-conspirators. Michel lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his schemes.<\/p>\n
Michel\u2019s illicit foreign malign influence effort is extraordinary\u2014he and his co-conspirators targeted the highest levels of American government through illegal contributions and backchannel influence. They tried to end the DOJ investigation into 1MDB, the largest foreign embezzlement scheme in history, and endeavored to send a PRC national back to China without due process. For his willingness to elevate foreign interests over those of the United States, Michel obtained more than $120 million from the architect of 1MDB, Low Taek Jho. After Michel was caught, he tampered with witnesses and then perjured himself at trial. 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.<\/p>\n
Conspicuously absent from comment, though he never stays quiet about anything else, especially when it comes to talking about himself, is Obama. Go figure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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