Rapper Pras files motion to avoid jail

Pras Michel has sought bail while he appeals his international fraud convictions.

The Fugees rapper was convicted of 10 charges, including acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, back in April 2023 after he accepted $100 million from disgraced Malaysian financier Jho Low to influence the administrations of US presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

He was handed a 14-year jail term last month, and has sought to be allowed to appeal the verdict before reporting to prison.

A motion filed by his team last Friday and obtained by Rolling Stone explained the appeal “presents substantial questions” surrounding alleged “egregious” errors during his trial.

It adds: “Neither the DC Circuit nor any other Court of Appeals has ever confronted this extraordinary degree of improper jury influence, which appears to be unprecedented”.

The lawyers, who had given an official notice of appeal earlier this month, claimed the trial judge had declared the 53-year-old musician to be “guilty on at least eight occasions by referring to Michel and others as co-conspirators and ruling in front of the jury that the co-conspirator exception to the rule against hearsay applied, further influencing the jury”.

It also said the most “egregious example” that “further” influenced the jury was “permitting FBI Agent Robert Heuchling to provide improper overview testimony and to opine on at least 25 occasions that Michel was guilty”.

His spokesperson, Erica Dumas, said: “This wasn’t a fair trial. This was a coronation of guilt.

“We’re confident the appeals court will recognise this case for what it is, an unprecedented trial that denies Pras’ constitutional right to an impartial jury.”

And his attorneys noted: “If decided in Michel’s favour, the substantial questions [outlined in the filing] would result in a new trial, reversal of nearly every count, and, at a minimum, a reduced sentence that would likely be less than the duration of Michel’s appeal.”

Prosecutors had sought a life sentence because the 53-year-old rapper had “betrayed his country for money” and “lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his schemes”.

The Ready or Not hitmaker’s team had sought a three-year prison term and felt a life sentence would be an “absurdly high” punishment because it is one typically handed down to terrorists and cartel leaders.

The charges included claims of Pras violating campaign finance laws during Barack Obama’s 2012 election campaign and illegally lobbed the Trump administration in 2017, but the musician argued he simply wanted to make money and got bad legal advice while reinventing himself in the world of politics.