Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees was sentenced on Thursday to 14 years in prison for a case in which he was convicted of illegally funneling millions of dollars in foreign contributions to former President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. 

Michel, 52, declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly sentenced him.

In April 2023, a federal jury convicted Michel of 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. The trial in Washington, D.C., included testimony from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Justice Department prosecutors said federal sentencing guidelines recommended a life sentence for Michel, whom they said “betrayed his country for money” and “lied unapologetically and unrelentingly to carry out his schemes.”

“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,” they wrote.

Defense attorney Peter Zeidenberg said his client’s 14-year sentence is “completely disproportionate to the offense.” Michel will appeal his conviction and sentence, according to his lawyer.

Zeidenberg had recommended a three-year prison sentence. A life sentence would be an “absurdly high” punishment for Michel, given that it is typically reserved for deadly terrorists and drug cartel leaders, Michel’s attorneys said in a court filing.

“The Government’s 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,” they wrote.

Michel, a Brooklyn native whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti, was a founding member of the Fugees along with childhood friends Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. Their hip-hop band won two Grammy Awards and sold tens of millions of albums.

Michel obtained more than $120 million from Malaysian billionaire Low Taek Jho — also known as Jho Low — and steered some of that money through straw donors to Obama’s campaign.

Michel said during trial that he viewed Low’s payments as “free money,” and accepted the millions over the course of nine months to help Low secure a photo op with Obama. He said under oath at the time that no one told him such payments toward political donations could have been unlawful or violations of campaign finance laws.  

The Justice Department also charged Michel with serving as an unregistered foreign agent for China, alleging that in 2017 he sought to sway the Trump administration to halt its probe into Low and to extradite a Chinese government target living in the U.S. That individual, dissident Miles Guo, was charged in New York in a billion-dollar fraud case and is still in custody.

Low, who has lived in China, was one of the primary financiers of “The Wolf of Wall Street,” a movie starring DiCaprio. Low is a fugitive but has maintained his innocence.

“Low’s motivation for giving Mr. Michel money to donate was not so that he could achieve some policy objective. Instead, Low simply wanted to obtain a photograph with himself and then-President Obama,” Michel’s attorneys wrote.

In August 2024, the judge rejected Michel’s request for a new trial based in part on his defense attorney’s use of a generative artificial intelligence program during his closing of the trial’s arguments. The judges said that and other trial errors didn’t amount to a serious miscarriage of justice.

LAHORE: Punjab Election Commissioner Sharifullah on Thursday said that notices had been served on Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Huzaifa Rehman for allegedly violating the code of conduct of the Election Act 2017.

A spokesperson for the provincial election commissioner said that the federal minister and the SAPM were directed to submit their explanations by November 21 (today).

“No minister or advisor is allowed to run an election campaign,” the spokesperson said, warning that swift action will be taken against any code violations to ensure free, fair, and impartial elections.

By-elections in six national and seven provincial assembly seats in Punjab are scheduled for November 23.

According to the Dera Ghazi Khan district monitoring officer, Leghari reportedly participated in the election campaign of PML-N candidate Mahmood Leghari in the NA-185 constituency.

The monitoring officer said that, by taking part in the campaign as a federal minister, Leghari breached official instructions. The minister has been asked to appear before the authorities and clarify his position regarding the alleged ECP violations.

The monitoring officer further said that SAPM Rehman has been violating the election code of conduct. The officer said that the SAPM intends to participate in the election campaign of the PML-N candidate.

Meanwhile, Faisalabad’s district monitoring officer wrote to the election commission, alleging that State Minister for Interior Talal Chaudhry had been repeatedly violating the election code of conduct.  

The monitoring officer told the election watchdog that the state minister had been warned over the phone about his conduct, but failed to comply with the ECP code of conduct despite two previous notices.

The state minister was fined Rs50,000 for breaching the ECP’s code of conduct, the officer said, adding that the matter was being forwarded to the election body for “further action”.

It is pertinent to mention here that the by-election campaigns for 13 constituencies of Punjab’s national and provincial assemblies will officially conclude at midnight on November 21.

Arrangements have almost been completed to hold the by-elections in six National and seven provincial assembly constituencies in Punjab, on November 23.

The ECP warned that candidates who continue engaging in political activities after this deadline will face legal consequences.

The ECP cautioned that those who breach these regulations could be subject to penalties such as imprisonment for a maximum of two years, a fine of up to Rs100,000, or both.

National Assembly constituencies included NA-18 Haripur, NA-96 Faisalabad-Il, NA-104 Faisalabad-X, NA-129 Lahore-XIll, NA-143 Sahiwal-IlI, NA-185 D.G. Khan-ll, PP-73 Sargodha-llI, PP-87 Mianwali-lII, PP-98 Faisalabad-I, PP-115 Faisalabad-XVIll, PP-116 Faisalabad-XIX, PP-203 Sahiwal-VI and PP-269 Muzaffargarh-ll.

Meghan Markle is sharing new stills from her latest interview.

The Duchess of Sussex, who sat with Harper’s Bazaar for their latest cover story, has now turned to her Instagram to share BTS from the photography.

This comes as Meghan spoke about setbacks as she works on her lifestyle brand ‘As Ever’.

“I can give myself the same grace as a founder,” she notes. “There’s no such thing as perfect. I, too, get to make mistakes… There’s also not a lot of fun in trying to be perfect. So why try to do that if you want to have fun?”

“My office is right by the kitchen, and I love that I can work from home. It’s a great luxury,” she added, before noting how her kids fill up a large part of her day.

Prince Harry left the Royal Family back in 2020 alongside wife Meghan Markle and son, Prince Archie. The couple later accused the Royal Family of showcasing racism towards their son and publicly shared their grievances on television. Harry and Meghan now live in California, where they also welcomed their daughter, Princess Lilibet.