Pras Found Guilty in Federal Conspiracy Trial, Faces Up to 20 Years in Prison
Pras has been found guilty on all charges in his federal conspiracy trial.
On Wednesday (April 26), following two days of deliberations, a jury convicted the Fugees rapper of 10 counts including money laundering, illegal lobbying, witness tampering and campaign finance violations, according to court documents obtained by XXL. The "Ghetto Super" rapper has until June 9 to file an appeal.
Pras was charged with being a part of a multi-million dollar international conspiracy where he sought to illegally lobby the U.S. government on behalf of billionaire financier Jho Low who is accused of stealing billions of dollars from the Malaysian development fund 1MDB. Pras was also part of an Obama campaign fund scandal, which charged Pras with defrauding the U.S. government by "making foreign and conduit campaign contributions" in connection to then president Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign. Prosecutors claim Pras raked in millions of dollars from the schemes.
Pras has maintained his innocence in the case, saying in 2018 he believed the charges were racially motivated. During the three-week trial, Pras took the stand and admitted he informed the FBI on China's efforts to extradite dissident Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui.
"What benefit would I get trying to break laws?" he told Rolling Stone back in March. "It’s not worth it to me. I’m like a pariah now. I’ve got friends who won’t talk to me because they think there’s a satellite in orbit listening to them."
Pras faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced at a later date.
XXL has reached out to Pras' attorney for comment.