A Fugees rapper accused in multimillion-dollar political conspiracies spanning two presidencies was convicted Wednesday after a trial that included testimony ranging from actor Leonardo DiCaprio to former U.S. attorney general Jeff Sessions.
Prakazrel "Pras" Michel was accused of funnelling money from a now-fugitive Malaysian financer through straw donors to Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign, then trying to squelch a U.S. Justice Department investigation and influence an extradition case on behalf of China under the Trump administration.
A jury in Washington, D.C., federal court found him guilty of all 10 counts, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.
The defence argued the Grammy-winning rapper from the 1990s hip-hop group the Fugees simply wanted to make money and got bad legal advice as he reinvented himself in the world of politics.
Michel declined to comment after the verdict, but his attorney said he's "extremely disappointed" in the outcome of the case and plans to appeal.
"This is not over," attorney David Kenner said. "I remain very, very confident we will ultimately prevail."
Michel first met Malaysian financer Low Taek Jho in 2006, when the businessman usually known as Jho Low was dropping huge sums of money and hobnobbing with the likes of Paris Hilton. Low helped finance Hollywood films, including "The Wolf of Wall Street." DiCaprio testified Low had appeared to him as a legitimate businessman and had mentioned wanting to donate to Obama's campaign.
Michel also testified in his own defence. He said Low wanted a picture with Obama in 2012 and was willing to pay millions of dollars to get it. Michel agreed to help and used some of the money he got to pay for friends to attend fundraising events. No one had ever told him that was illegal, he said.
Prosecutors said Michel was donating the money on Low's behalf, and later tried to lean on the straw donors with texts from burner phones to keep them from talking to investigators.
After the election of Donald Trump, prosecutors say Michel again took millions to halt an investigation into allegations Low masterminded a money laundering and bribery scheme that pilfered billions from the Malaysian state investment fund known as 1MDB. Low is now an international fugitive and has maintained his innocence.
Michel also got paid to try and persuade the U.S. to extradite back to China a government critic suspected of crimes there without registering as a foreign agent, prosecutors said.
On that charge, the defence pointed to testimony from Sessions, who was Trump's top law enforcement officer until he resigned in 2018. Sessions said he'd been aware the Chinese government wanted the extradition but didn't know Michel. The rapper's ultimately futile efforts to arrange a meeting on the topic didn't seem improper, the former attorney general said.
Members of Parliament are debating the second Conservative motion of non-confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government of the week.
Scammers are increasingly using emails to extort money from victims by threatening to reveal compromising photos, videos and personal information to their friends and family members, according to a new warning from Mounties in Metro Vancouver.
An Air Canada flight headed to Toronto from Frankfurt diverted to Edinburgh due to an emergency Thursday, the airline says.
A partial masking mandate has returned to Nova Scotia hospitals and provincially run healthcare facilities for visitors and healthcare workers.
Canadian singer K’naan has been charged with sexual assault after being arrested by police in Quebec City.
Tropical storm force winds began battering Florida on Thursday as Hurricane Helene prepared to make landfall, with forecasters warning that the enormous storm could create a "nightmare" surge along the coast and churn up damaging winds hundreds of miles inland across much of the southeastern U.S.
An NDP MP has introduced a bill that would criminalize residential school denialism, saying it would help stop harm caused toward survivors, their families and communities.
A Canadian pharmaceutical company is warning consumers not to use some of its eye drops because of potential microbial growth that may result in eye infections.
Vancouver police blocked traffic and the SkyTrain's Millennium Line suspended service to VCC-Clark Station due to an "unstable crane" in the area Thursday.
A psychiatric report has found a man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting six women east of Calgary is fit to stand trial but his lawyer wants the court to order another hearing before the long-delayed matter resumes.
Vancouver police blocked traffic and the SkyTrain's Millennium Line suspended service to VCC-Clark Station due to an "unstable crane" in the area Thursday.
Scammers are increasingly using emails to extort money from victims by threatening to reveal compromising photos, videos and personal information to their friends and family members, according to a new warning from Mounties in Metro Vancouver.
A lawyer defending a 14-year-old accused of setting a classmate on fire says 'voices told her to do things' prior to a fiery attack which severely injured a classmate and a teacher at Evan Hardy Collegiate earlier this month.
The driver of a semi was injured and 22 cattle died following a rollover on Highway 39 near Midale, Sask. on Sept. 21.
No damage was reported after an earthquake shook parts of Vancouver Island and British Columbia's Lower Mainland on Thursday morning.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in a five-count criminal indictment unsealed on Thursday, becoming the city's first sitting mayor to face criminal charges. Here are some accusations in the indictment, which have not been proven in court.
Changes in Russia's nuclear doctrine that were announced by President Vladimir Putin are intended to discourage Ukraine's Western allies from supporting attacks on Russia, the Kremlin said Thursday.
In her first interview in more than two years, former U.S. first lady Melania Trump said she saw her husband's survival in two attempts on his life as 'miracles' and offered new details about the former president, including his desire to have more children.
Norwegian police have issued an international search request for Rinson Jose, a Norwegian-Indian man linked to the sale of pagers to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that exploded last week, they said on Thursday.
Canada joined the United States, other G7 allies and several Middle Eastern nations Thursday to call for an immediate ceasefire at the Israel-Lebanon border after a dramatic increase in airstrikes in recent days, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained defiant as he arrived in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.
Shots were fired late Thursday near the presidential palace in Guinea's capital Conakry, and the army locked down the city centre and evacuated it. It wasn't immediately clear who was shooting or why.
Members of Parliament are debating the second Conservative motion of non-confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government of the week.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have signed a statement aimed at collaborating more on issues ranging from Ukraine to foreign interference.
New changes to Canada's temporary foreign worker program are now in effect. Here's what to know.
A partial masking mandate has returned to Nova Scotia hospitals and provincially run healthcare facilities for visitors and healthcare workers.
Despite making up more than 4.5 per cent of Canada’s population, less than one per cent of the country's physicians identify as Indigenous, according to the Canadian Medical Association.
A Canadian pharmaceutical company is warning consumers not to use some of its eye drops because of potential microbial growth that may result in eye infections.
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen feels 'extremely hopeful' about society's ability to push social media platforms into being safer but for change to come, she says these companies need to be motivated in a new way.
OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati — who has been instrumental in the development of ChatGPT and the artificial intelligence image generator Dall-E — said Wednesday she is leaving the company.
A Canadian school photography company says it was hit by a ransomware attack that held about 3,500 photos of students in several Saskatchewan school divisions hostage, among others across the country.
Canadian singer K’naan has been charged with sexual assault after being arrested by police in Quebec City.
British supermodel Naomi Campbell has been barred from being a charity trustee in England and Wales for five years after the poverty charity she founded nearly two decades ago was deemed Thursday to have been 'poorly governed' with 'inadequate financial management.'
Hoda Kotb, a fixture at NBC for more than two decades, says she will leave her morning perch on the 'Today' show early next year, telling staffers 'it's time.'
A settlement was reached Thursday in a defamation lawsuit pitting an electronic voting machine manufacturer targeted by allies of former U.S. president Donald Trump against a conservative news outlet that aired accusations of vote manipulation in the 2020 election.
Open AI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman (C) speaks at the Advancing Sustainable Development through Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy AI event on Sept. 23, 2024, in New York. (Bryan R. Smith/Pool Photo via AP)
Billionaire Elon Musk's social media site X has complied with Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes' orders and requested its service be re-established in the country, a source said Thursday.
Regina and John Zdravich left the U.S. for Italy after falling in love with the European country, then unexpectedly found themselves 'homeless.'
Home Depot was about to launch something big — really big — when the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020: a 12-foot skeleton.
Switching to an online-only bank more than a decade ago was just another way Jessica Morgan was trying to save money at the time as a new grad.
Willie Jefferson doesn't like to look too far ahead, but there is something he'd like to see happen after the Winnipeg Blue Bombers host the Edmonton Elks on Friday. A victory by the Blue Bombers (8-6) in front of a third straight sellout at Princess Auto Stadium would clinch a playoff spot for the eighth consecutive season, one in which the team started 0-4.
The Chicago White Sox averted a record-breaking loss for the third straight day, beating the Los Angeles Angels 7-0 on Thursday behind Chris Flexen's sharp pitching performance.
Daniel Ricciardo, one of the most popular and likeable drivers on the Formula 1 grid, was released by Red Bull Racing on Thursday and will be replaced immediately by Liam Lawson.
Ontario's Premier Doug Ford wants to dig Canada's largest city out of its traffic woes.
A bizarre discovery was made on a dirt road in Clearview Township.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he wants to build a tunnel under Highway 401 that would stretch from Brampton to Scarborough.
Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.
Wayne MacKay is still playing basketball twice at Mount Allison University at 87 years old.
A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.
An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.
An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.
Fire has destroyed a barn and 17,000 plants at a family-owned business in Lower Coverdale, N.B.
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A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.
Vancouver police blocked traffic and the SkyTrain's Millennium Line suspended service to VCC-Clark Station due to an "unstable crane" in the area Thursday.
Scammers are increasingly using emails to extort money from victims by threatening to reveal compromising photos, videos and personal information to their friends and family members, according to a new warning from Mounties in Metro Vancouver.
British Columbia NDP leader David Eby was upstaged by a wasp that flew down his shirt and stung him during a news conference.
A new, temporary, stadium-sized seasonal concert venue is coming to Toronto's north end, with the capacity to host 50,000 people at one time. Rogers Stadium will open in June 2025 at the site of the former Downsview Airport Lands, Live Nation announced Thursday.
Standardized testing results released today show that fewer Ontario students in Grades 3 and 6 met the provincial standard in reading and writing than the previous year.
An Air Canada flight headed to Toronto from Frankfurt diverted to Edinburgh due to an emergency Thursday, the airline says.
A psychiatric report has found a man accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting six women east of Calgary is fit to stand trial but his lawyer wants the court to order another hearing before the long-delayed matter resumes.
A number of families whose children attended Little Scholars childcare centers in Calgary are frustrated they haven’t received a refund after the programs were unexpectedly shut down due to safety concerns in August.
The two men arrested after a deadly roadside shooting near Calgary last month will be tried together.
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Former Ottawa resident Judy Brown is among many in Tallahassee, Florida bracing for Hurricane Helene as it barrels towards the state.
A major redevelopment project on Parliament Hill that includes eventually building a tunnel in the area of Wellington and Sparks streets is scheduled to start this October, according to the City of Ottawa.
Canadian singer K’naan has been charged with sexual assault after being arrested by police in Quebec City.
A new registry launched by Quebec's Asbestos Victims Association (AVAQ) shows that more than 3,000 public buildings in Quebec contain asbestos.
The Montreal fire department spent hours Monday battling a battery fire inside a container at the Port of Montreal.
Ten advocacy groups have come together to demand more protections for vulnerable Edmontonians ahead of colder temperatures.
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Airbnbs will be used to temporarily house some Jasperites whose homes were either destroyed or made unlivable in this summer's wildfire, the company's charitable organization says.
A third person has been arrested and charged in connection with the homicide of Halifax teen Devon Sinclair Marsman, who disappeared more than two years ago.
The mayor of a Nova Scotia town says recent disruptions to the ferry service that links Nova Scotia with eastern Prince Edward Island are posing a real challenge for the town's tourism industry.
New Brunswick's Progressive Conservatives announced a financial literacy program Thursday, while Liberal Leader Susan Holt vowed to "transform mental health care," and Green Leader David Coon unveiled an affordable housing plan.
An NDP MP has introduced a bill that would criminalize residential school denialism, saying it would help stop harm caused toward survivors, their families and communities.
The Manitoba NDP government says it is more than halfway toward its goal of hiring 1,000 health-care workers since taking office nearly a year ago.
The Town of Winnipeg Beach is without a leader after its mayor resigned Wednesday evening.
The driver of a semi was injured and 22 cattle died following a rollover on Highway 39 near Midale, Sask. on Sept. 21.
As Saskatchewan awaits the election call, how are voters feeling about the leaders of Saskatchewan’s two major parties? Â鶹´«Ã½ sought to find out, in partnership with Insightrix Research.
After a lengthy meeting Wednesday night, Regina city council has landed on a location for a permanent emergency shelter.
Advocates are demanding an apology after a staff report regarding the destruction of corn crops in Wilmot Township was found to be lacking in detail.
Guelph police say an elderly woman has died after she was struck by a vehicle Thursday afternoon on Eramosa Road.
A man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter after the 2022 death of a Cambridge resident.
A lawyer defending a 14-year-old accused of setting a classmate on fire says 'voices told her to do things' prior to a fiery attack which severely injured a classmate and a teacher at Evan Hardy Collegiate earlier this month.
As Saskatchewan awaits the election call, how are voters feeling about the leaders of Saskatchewan’s two major parties? Â鶹´«Ã½ sought to find out, in partnership with Insightrix Research.
In a human trafficking trial Tuesday, a Bangladeshi woman says she was sexually assaulted nearly two years ago during her time working at a small-town Saskatchewan restaurant.
A northern Ontario man was in the bush hunting for partridge with his fiancé when he came across a big bull moose entangled in some hydro lines in his antlers.
A pedestrian is dead following a collision with a commercial motor vehicle on Highway 17 west of Thunder Bay on Thursday morning.
Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard's defence lawyer continued her cross-examination of the complainant in his sexual assault trial in a northeastern Ontario court today, where he has pleaded not guilty.
Jonathan Halfyard lived with his mother Carolyn Carter, 69, in west London. But things took a deadly turn on April 20 of last year when she called police to have her youngest child removed from the house.
Some London renters say a new policy by their landlord to charge visitors for parking amounts to a corporate cash grab.
Officials in Grand Bend are trying to avoid car rally chaos, similar to what was seen in London on Saturday evening.
Residents living near Sunnidale Park in Barrie are calling for immediate action to address a growing coyote problem in their neighbourhood.
Provincial police say a second complainant has come forward with new allegations against a former aquatic supervisor in Orillia in a child luring and sexual exploitation case.
Two people were hospitalized following a collision in Angus Thursday morning.
As Windsor’s ward meetings roll on, residents on the east end say they’re tired of hearing about crime concerns downtown, pointing out they have problems too.
The Windsor Police Service (WPS) has arrested a “wanted fugitiveâ€, wanted on multiple warrants in Ontario.
Victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) should soon have more support thanks to a new pilot project launching in Windsor-Essex.
British Columbia NDP leader David Eby was upstaged by a wasp that flew down his shirt and stung him during a news conference.
Scammers are increasingly using emails to extort money from victims by threatening to reveal compromising photos, videos and personal information to their friends and family members, according to a new warning from Mounties in Metro Vancouver.
No damage was reported after an earthquake shook parts of Vancouver Island and British Columbia's Lower Mainland on Thursday morning.
A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.
The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.
Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.
A Cardston, Alta., woman is $1 million richer after a Lotto Max draw in early August.
Alberta's Chief Mountain border crossing will soon close for the season.
It's been a decade since the signing of the Buffalo Treaty helped promote buffalo conservation among Indigenous communities in southern Alberta.
A northern Ontario man was in the bush hunting for partridge with his fiancé when he came across a big bull moose entangled in some hydro lines in his antlers.
A pedestrian is dead following a collision with a commercial motor vehicle on Highway 17 west of Thunder Bay on Thursday morning.
Every other day, Derek Moonias drives 15 minutes to the airport in Neskantaga First Nation and fills his pickup truck with cases of bottled water flown in on the dime of the federal government.
A soccer game in England on Tuesday night drove a spike in online traffic across the Atlantic to a website launched by the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
Newfoundland and Labrador sponsored a minor football team in England, now they’re about to play one of the biggest clubs in European soccer.
Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
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