Pras' Attorney Pleads Guilty to Leaking Evidence in Federal Trial

Former Fugees member Prakazrel "Pras" Michél's attorney David Kenner pleaded guilty of leaking evidence in the rapper's federal conspiracy trial.

Pras' Attorney Pleads Guilty to Leaking Evidence

On Friday (Jan. 26), Pras Michél's lawyer, David Kenner, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal contempt for leaking confidential evidence in the former Fugees member federal conspiracy case. The disgraced defense attorney was sentenced to one year of probation and a $5,000 fine for his actions, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia.

Prosecutors claim that David Kenner leaked confidential evidence, including grand jury materials to Bloomberg News, before Pras was convicted last year in his federal case. On March 3, 2023, prosecutors took action by filing a motion requesting the court to issue an order to show cause, thereby initiating contempt charges. Following a thorough investigation, the motion was duly referred to the Honorable Judge Amit P. Mehta for his consideration and subsequently approved.

Kenner pleaded guilty to one count of contempt before Judge Mehta after entering into a plea agreement with the United States.

"I am deeply sorry to be standing in front of you, and I fully accept responsibility," Kenner, 82, told the judge in Washington, D.C. via a video teleconference hearing, according to The Washington Post. "I had a wonderful 56-year career, and while I tried to be a zealous advocate in my cases, including for Mr. Michél, this is a low point."

Pras Found Guilty in Federal Conspiracy Trial, Faces 20 Years in Prison

On April 26, 2023, a jury convicted the Fugees rapper of 10 counts, including money laundering, illegal lobbying, witness tampering and campaign finance violations in his federal corruption trial. The rap veteran was charged with engaging in illegal lobbying efforts on behalf of the affluent financier Jho Low, who faces charges of embezzling billions of dollars from the Malaysian development fund known as 1MDB.

Pras was also part of an Obama campaign fund scandal, in which he was accused of defrauding the U.S. government by "making foreign and conduit campaign contributions" in connection to then president Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign. Prosecutors claim Pras raked in millions of dollars from both of the schemes.

Pras' case garnered a lot of media attention and some unwanted press when it was erroneously reported by the media that he testified on the stand that he was an FBI informant.

In an interview with TMZ, which can be viewed below, Pras insisted that he was never an FBI or CIA informant.

"I was never in the past president or future an FBI or CIA informant," he stated. "If people want to check it out look at the testimonies that I testify they could see all in the records and, um, with D.C. courts."
"This is not a Tekashi 6ix9ine situation, respectively speaking," he added.

Pras faces the possibility of 20 years in prison at his impending sentencing hearing.