FUGEES' PRAS FOUND GUILTY OF CONSPIRACY

Fugees rapper Pras was found guilty on 10 criminal counts in a Washington D.C. courtroom on Wednesday (4/26), bringing his three-week trial to an unceremonious end. The Grammy-winning artist was convicted of a failed conspiracy to help Malaysian businessman Jho Low and the Chinese government gain access to U.S. officials, including Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Leonardo DiCaprio and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions were among those who testified. Pras, who also took the stand, admitted to being a former F.B.I. informant and accepting $20m from Low for setting up a photo op with Obama. Prosecutors alleged Pras funneled more than $800k of that money to Obama’s campaign through a number of straw donors. They also claimed Low gave Pras more than $100m to pressure the government into dropping their investigation of him.

Pras admitted to jurors he gave the $800k to friends so they could donate in their names and gain access to exclusive, $40k-per-seat Obama fundraisers in Miami and Washington but insisted he thought it was his money to spend.

According to the Justice Department, Low allegedly misappropriated roughly $500m from the sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad via wire transfers to shell companies owned by him and others. He remains at large but was charged as a co-defendant in Pras' case.