Pras Michel has reportedly turned himself in to begin his prison term after being convicted in 2023 of charges including money laundering, illegal lobbying, and campaign finance violations.
According to Rolling Stone, the convicted rapper reported to the Federal Correctional Institution in Safford, Arizona, where he will start his 14-year prison sentence. Pras was originally scheduled to turn himself in on Jan. 27, but asked the judge to remain free on bail while appealing the sentence. U.S.
District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly denied the request, but gave him an additional 60 days to report to prison.“Today is a painful day for Pras, for his family, and for everyone who believes in a fair system of justice,” his spokesperson, Erica Dumas, said in a written statement. “Pras honors the legal process as he reports to begin his sentence. The FARA-related charges that led to his conviction are being vigorously contested on appeal, and his legal team believes the record will show that his rights were violated and the truth was obscured. This chapter is difficult, but it is not his final one.”
Dumas added that Pras has been spending time with his family over the past two months. He was in Los Angeles last month, watching the Ye concert on April 3, when he hung out in a suite with Dave Chappelle and Eryka Badu and watched his Fugees cohort, Lauryn Hill, when she was onstage as a guest for Ye.
In 2019, Pras was arrested and charged with funneling money from fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low, who is purported to be the mastermind of a billion-dollar 1MDB embezzlement scheme, for a lobbying campaign aimed at persuading the Trump administration (during his first presidency) to drop its investigation into the financier. The rapper was also accused of secretly funneling Low’s money to President Barack Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign, and trying to influence an extradition case on behalf of China.
On Nov. 20, 2025, he was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after being found guilty on 10 counts, including witness tampering, conspiracy, and failing to register as an agent of a foreign government.
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