Fugees Rapper Pras Michel Fights to Avoid Prison Time As Desperate Appeal of 14-Year Sentence Begins

Fugees rapper Pras Michel mounts the offensive to stay out of prison as he appeals his 14-year sentence, but the government doubles down.

As Pras Michel fights to appeal his 14-year federal prison sentence following a conviction that he claims resulted from an unfair trial, the U.S. Department of Justice asks the court to deny the rapper’s motion.

Last month, the Fugees member and his legal team filed a motion asking to remain free on bail while he appeals his sentence, arguing that his conviction resulted from a “deeply flawed” and unfair trial. Now, the DOJ has filed a motion asking the court to deny Michel’s request, doubling down on the government’s assertion that he was rightly convicted.

“In his effort to justify bail, he regurgitates numerous arguments that already have been litigated extensively through post-trial motions and hearings, and which this court has rejected categorically, across the board,” the government’s motion reads.

“Consequently, more than six years after being indicted and more than two years after a jury convicted him of all 10 charged counts, the defendant should begin his custodial term while his appeal proceeds through the normal course. The court, therefore, should deny the defendant’s motion.”

On November 20, Pras Michel was sentenced to 168 months in prison after a Washington, D.C. jury convicted him in a case tied to Malaysian financier and fugitive Jho Low. Michel has been allowed to remain free since his sentencing, but is scheduled to surrender to federal authorities on January 27.

In their motion filed in December, Michel’s attorneys asked a federal judge to grant bail while their client’s appeal moves through the court, arguing that he poses no flight risk or danger to the public and that his conviction sits on shaky ground on multiple legal statutes.

Under federal law, a defendant may remain free pending appeal if they raise substantial legal questions that could result in the reversal of a conviction or a new trial altogether. According to Michel’s legal team, he meets that standard and should therefore not be forced into custody before appellate review.

Pras’ attempt to appeal his conviction follows his prior effort to request a new trial based on his original defense attorney’s use of generative AI during closing arguments. However, the court determined that this did not constitute a “serious miscarriage of justice.”

Michel was convicted by a federal jury in 2023 on 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. His trial and subsequent conviction stem from his acquisition of over $120 million from Malaysian billionaire Jho Low, which Michel injected into Obama’s re-election campaign via straw donors. According to prosecutors, he also attempted to interfere in a DOJ investigation into Low, tampered with two witnesses, and perjured himself at trial.