Pras has a long-lasting legacy secure thanks to his work alongside the rest of the Fugees, but his future looks grim. That doesn't mean it's over, though. According to AllHipHop, he officially filed an appeal to overturn his 14-year prison sentence for money laundering tied to Malaysian businessman Jho Low and the 1MDB fiasco.
Per the outlet, the appeal filing appeared on Thursday (December 4) in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The sentence also resulted in the rapper giving up around $64 million. His attorneys unsuccessfully sought probation and used his philanthropy and Low's alleged manipulation as reasons why. But that wasn't Pras' legal team's only hurdle.
Controversially, the defense unprecedentedly used artificial intelligence technology to run through evidence and create legal strategy. Now, the court must review this appeal and determine whether any errors occurred in his trial or sentencing, a review that could take months or years to finalize.
The Fugees member's conviction also ties to charges of conspiracy, acting as an unregistered foreign agent, and other matters. It's a complex matter, but this did not make the sentence from the jury any more lenient.
Pras' Conspiracy & Money Laundering Case
For those unaware, Pras' 2023 conviction and recent prison sentence include additional charges of witness tampering and illegal foreign lobbying. At the center of these allegations is Jho Low, who was accused of a massive money laundering scheme involving a Malaysian fund.
The New Jersey artist allegedly accepted over $100 million from Low to influence U.S. politics, funneling foreign funds into Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign and later trying to steer Donald Trump's administration away from investigating the 1MDB scandal.
That fiasco spans multiple countries and jurisdictions, and this is just a high-profile example of that. Prosecutors called this a "back-channel lobbying campaign" meant to derail U.S. investigations into the Malaysia fund.
With all this in mind, we will see whether or not Pras gets out of this legal rut or if his efforts to appeal his sentence are unsuccessful. It's been wild to follow this so far, but things will soon come to a close.
