WASHINGTON — A judge has denied a request insist on a new trial in a multimillion-dollar political conspiracy case against rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of the Fugees on Friday.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly found that his defense attorney use of a generative AI program during the oral arguments and other errors during the trial in Washington, DC, did not amount to a serious miscarriage of justice.
Michel was found guilty of 10 charges after a jury heard testimony from witnesses ranging from actor Leonardo DiCaprio to former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He faces up to 20 years in prison on the top charges. He is free pending sentencing, which has not yet been determined.
The Grammy-winning rapper was accused of funneling money from a now-fugitive Malaysian financier through front men to Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, then trying to obstruct a Justice Department investigation and influence an extradition case on behalf of China under the Trump administration.
The defense argued that Michel simply received bad advice as he tried to support himself and reinvent himself in the world of politics.
His attorney David Kenner, best known for his previous defense of rappers including Suge Knight and Snoop Dogg, later pleaded guilty to leaking grand jury information to reporters.
Michel got a new lawyer who argued that Kenner made a series of errors, including using an “experimental” generative AI program that botched closing arguments by misattributing a text from his client’s influential 1990s group.
However, Michel failed to demonstrate that Kenner’s handling of the case prejudiced the jury, Judge Kollar-Kotelly said.
She acknowledged that some of the errors Michel cited were valid to some extent, but said they did not negate the prosecutors’ extensive evidence against him or make the nearly month-long trial unfair.
A spokesperson for Michel could not yet comment on the ruling.