The musician, convicted on federal conspiracy charges, was set to appear in court to discuss how much money he will have to forfeit to the government
The Fugees’ Pras Michel underwent emergency surgery for colon cancer last week, postponing legal proceedings in his foreign lobbying and conspiracy case.
Michel was convicted back in 2023 on an array of charges — such as money laundering, illegal lobbying, witness tampering, and campaign finance violations — for his role in a multimillion-dollar government influence campaign that involved the Obama and Trump administrations. (Michel has repeatedly denied the charges.) The hearing scheduled for last Friday, Aug. 29, was part of Michel’s sentencing and was meant to address how much money he will have to forfeit to the government.
But late last month, Michel’s lawyers stated in a filing that the musician had “experienced a significant medical concern for which he is seeking medical treatment,” adding that this would “prevent” him from attending the Aug. 29 court date.
In a statement shared with Rolling Stone, Michel’s rep, Erica Dumas, revealed that the medical emergency was related to Michel’s colon cancer diagnosis. “Due to emergency surgery to treat colon cancer, Pras was unable to appear at Friday’s scheduled sentencing,” she said. “We are hopeful for his swift healing and recovery during this challenging chapter.”
The conspiracy case against Michel stemmed from the musician’s relationship with Malaysian financier Jho Low, who’s accused of embezzling at least $4.5 billion from the 1MDB Malaysian development fund. (Low is still at large.) Michel was accused of helping Low run foreign-influence campaigns against the U.S., such as funneling money from Low to Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, as well as lobbying Donald Trump’s administration to drop an investigation into Low and extradite the dissident Chinese billionaire.
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Prosecutors are seeking a lengthy prison sentence for Michel, pushing for at least several decades in prison. They’re also demanding he forfeit over $64 million to the government. Michel’s lawyers, meanwhile, are arguing for a sentence of 36 months and have called the forfeiture fee “grossly disproportionate to the offenses of conviction” (via Billboard).
A new forfeiture hearing was scheduled for Oct. 3. A final sentencing date hasn’t been set yet.