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Pras Michel is set to stand trial in the case against him for charges of conspiracy, witness tampering, and failure to register as a foreign agent, as filed by the United States Department of Justice in its original indictment in 2019.
Michel is being accused of utilizing more than $ 1.86 million in an attempt to influence the 2012 US Presidential Elections, working at the behest of his co-conspirator Low Taek Jho, a Malaysian financier. He is also charged with being involved in efforts to illegally extradite a Chinese dissident, Guo Wengui, from the USA back to the People's Republic of China.
If convicted of these charges, Pras Michel is set to face multiple federal prison sentences that could see him jailed for years, depending upon the severity of the indictment pursued by the prosecutors.
More on Pras Michel and his involvement in the conspiracy
According to an exclusive report published by Bloomberg Businessweek, Pras Michel's part in the conspiracy began in a nightclub in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan, where the rapper witnessed a scene of extravagance, with Low Taek Jho paying more money at the bar to outdo two Wall Street men.
From there, Pras and Low became good friends, the former being part of a large network of influencers and socialites that the Malaysian businessman maintained. Some other names on the list include Miranda Kerr, Kim Kardashian, and Leonardo Di Caprio.
This was also the same time that the rapper had started building the foundations of his music career to be a celebrity influencer and networker, having contacts such as then-future Haitian president Michel Martelly, as well as being a supporter of President Barack Obama.
It is his support for Obama that is involved in the first set of charges filed in the DOJ's 2019 indictment. According to the report, Michel wished to support Obama with a fundraiser, for which Low contributed $21 million, sidestepping legalities by passing the money to Michel.
Low and Michel's activities were caught by the DOJ investigation launched after allegations of graft surfaced in 2015, which resulted in federal prosecutors filing forfeitures for assets belonging to Low and his circle of associates, amounting to more than $1 billion dollars.
The forfeiture led to events that deepened Pras Michel's involvement in the matter. In an attempt to prevent the forfeiture, Michel, through his friend Nickie Lum Davis, got in touch with Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy.
It was during his efforts alongside Broidy to stop the forfeiture that the rapper was apprised by Low of the involvement of the goverment of PRC, and their interest in the Chinese dissident, against whom the PRC had filed charges through Interpol weeks before Broidy, Low, and Michel met in Thailand.
The PRC's involvement was later revealed to be part of a global campaign to suppress dissidents speaking out against the party, Operation Fox Hunt, and Pras Michel's involvement included the negotiation of the release of a pregnant American woman, an event which tipped off the FBI, leading to the consequent indictments.
The two combined federal indictments represent more than 20 years of imprisonment per count in their charges for Pras Michel, while Low faces 10 years per count.
Tracing Pras Michel and his career
Prakazrel Samuel Michel, better known by his stage name Pras Michel, was born on October 19, 1972, and spent his early childhood in Irvington, New Jersey. He was interested in music from an early age, and met rapper Lauryn Hill while attending Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey.
The rapper, together with Wycleaf Jean and Lauryn Hill, formed the hip-hop trio Fugees, with the name being a contraction of the word "refugees". The band released their debut studio album Blunted on Reality on February 1, 1994, after signing up with Ruffhouse label.
Blunted on Reality, while not as prominently political in its theme as the band's second album, still dealt with issues with police extrajudicial violence, among other things. In an exclusive interview with Lorna's Corner, Wycleaf Jean stated the following regarding the album:
"When the cop is messing around with somebody for something that the person didn’t do and they try to set ‘em up, that makes me blunted on reality. When the government is taking money on arms…and that money could be going back to the community it makes me blunted on reality."
The rapper achieved critical acclaim with Fugees with their second studio album, The Score, which was released on February 13, 1996. The album won the Best Rap Album award at the 1997 Grammy Awards.
After the disbandment of the Fugees, the rapper's solo music career never took off and he instead turned to films, winning a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series in 2017 for being the producer of the series The Bay.
