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\n\tA federal judge sentenced Pras<\/a> Michel, the Fugees rapper who was convicted of conspiracy, money laundering, and illegal lobbying<\/a>, in April 2023, to 14 years in prison on Thursday. A rep for the musician confirmed the news to Rolling Stone<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tJudge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced the artist, whose real name is Prakazrel Michel, in a D.C. federal court, according to Billboard<\/a><\/em>. After serving the sentence, Michel will serve three years\u2019 probation. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of multiple decades, while his lawyers asked the judge for only three years.<\/p>\n \n\tMichel\u2019s lawyers will next appeal both his conviction and sentence. In the meantime, he\u2019s expected to surrender on Jan. 27. \u201cThroughout his career Pras has broken barriers,\u201d his spokesperson, Erica Dumas, tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cThis is not the end of his story. He appreciates the outpouring of support as he approaches the next chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn 2019, the federal government indicted Michel on four criminal counts of making illegal contributions to Barack Obama\u2019s 2012 reelection campaign. Two years later, the government added charges to the indictment, as outlined in a Rolling Stone <\/a><\/em>feature<\/a>, including bank fraud, concealment of material facts, witness tampering, violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), and working as an unregistered agent of the People\u2019s Republic of China.<\/p>\n \n\tAll of the charges relate to Michel\u2019s relationship with a Malaysian, Low Taek Jho, who had stolen $4.5 billion from 1 Malaysian Development Berhad (1MDB). The government claimed Michel helped move money from 1MDB to a campaign lobbying Donald Trump to drop an investigation into Low and a Chinese dissident. \u201cWhat benefit would I get trying to break laws?\u201d he told Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s not worth it to me. I\u2019m like a pariah now. I\u2019ve got friends who won\u2019t talk to me because they think there\u2019s a satellite in orbit listening to them.\u201d<\/p>\n