Pras

CTL-E-5792 · Person · musician · 1972–present

VERIFIED evidence grade — build store (JSON graph)

Combined Graph record U-07055 · provenance: build store (JSON graph), record CTL-E-5792.

Pras, born Prakazrel Samuel Michel on October 19, 1972, in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Irvington, New Jersey, is an American rapper of Haitian descent, best known as a founding member of the Fugees. He met Lauryn Hill at Columbia High School in South Orange, New Jersey, introduced her to his cousin Wyclef Jean, and the three formed first the Tranzlator Crew and then the Fugees, whose The Score (1996) won two Grammy Awards. His solo debut album, Ghetto Supastar (1998), carried the Grammy-nominated title single with Ol' Dirty Bastard and Mýa, a top-forty hit, as was his 1997 'Avenues.' He later worked in film and television, winning a Daytime Emmy Award in 2017 as a producer of the web series The Bay. In April 2023 a federal jury in Washington, D.C., convicted him on ten counts, including conspiracy involving foreign campaign contributions and acting as an unregistered foreign agent, in the case arising from Malaysian financier Jho Low and the 1MDB scandal. On November 20, 2025, he was sentenced to fourteen years in prison; he has appealed, and in April 2026 he reported to a federal facility in Arizona to begin the sentence while the appeal continues.

The record

• Also known as: Pras Michel, Prakazrel Samuel Michel, Prakazrel Michel

Notes

STAGED 2026-10-16 (747 Program, Wave 7, Batch C) — not merged. Gate A: no Pras / Pras Michel record in the live graph (3,443 entities), 2026-10-16 — ABSENT. Vital status: LIVING — verified by April–May 2026 reporting of his surrender at FCI Safford and by his spokesperson's statements. Edge staged: Pras related_to → Fugees (exact roster names), founding membership in evidence. LEGAL FACTS STANDARD: only adjudicated facts are carried — the April 2023 conviction (10 counts), the November 20, 2025 sentence (14 years), the December 2025 appeal filing, and the April 30, 2026 surrender reported by Rolling Stone/syndicated outlets; prosecutors' characterizations are attributed to prosecutors and are not stated as fact. CONFLICTS SHOWN, not blended: (1) one secondary report dates sentencing to November 24, 2025 — the Associated Press, dated November 21, 2025 and reporting a Thursday sentencing, controls: November 20, 2025; (2) an earlier report gave a January 27 surrender deadline — later reporting documents extensions and an actual April 30, 2026 surrender, which the description follows; (3) AllMusic's biography says Michel was born in New Jersey, while the biographical record used here gives Brooklyn, New York, with a New Jersey upbringing — the majority account is carried and the divergence recorded. A forfeiture figure (about $65 million) appears in one magazine account but not in the AP report and is therefore NOT carried. Photo: HELD (see media). MEDIA LAYER (staged 2026-10-16; full per-asset PHOTO-001 records + embed specs in the packet's staged JSON, Drive packet folder): map = N/A (Person/group records carry no map slot under the media-layer rule; maps attach to places and institutions.) | visual_assets = HELD: No Commons/LOC file page stating a license was verified for this subject in this pass; slot held rather than f | chart = FILLED | video = HELD (No Shorts Link Map row bills Pras; no ID guessed.) | audio = HELD (No CTL-owned or rights-cleared audio for this subject exists at staging; the recorded catalog is label copyrig)

Relationships

• Fugees — related to
  Pras (Prakazrel Michel) is a founding member of the Fugees, formed with his cousin Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill, and a member on The Score (1996). Membership stated in evidence; both endpoints are exact packet roster names.

Sources

• Associated Press, via NPR member stations (WHRO/WAMC), November 21, 2025 — Prakazrel 'Pras' Michel sentenced Thursday (November 20, 2025) to 14 years by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly; convicted April 2023 by a federal jury on 10 counts including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government, over foreign contributions to the 2012 Obama reelection campaign; prosecutors sought a guidelines life sentence; defense sought three years and stated he will appeal [primary for the legal facts] (primary source · build store)
• AllMusic, 'Pras' biography by Steve Huey — Fugees member; of Haitian descent, cousin of Wyclef Jean; high-school classmate of Lauryn Hill; co-founded the Tranzlator Crew, renamed the Fugees; Ruffhouse signing 1993; solo career concentrated more on acting (build store)
• Wikipedia, 'Pras' — born Prakazrel Samuel Michel, October 19, 1972; formed the Fugees with Jean and Hill in 1990; 'Avenues' (1997) and Grammy-nominated 'Ghetto Supastar' (1998) both top-40; Daytime Emmy Award 2017 for The Bay; convicted 2023 on 10 counts in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; sentenced November 2025 to 14 years (build store)
• Rolling Stone reporting via syndicated coverage (Kiss FM Detroit / Hot 96.9), May 1, 2026 — Michel turned himself in at the federal correctional facility in Safford, Arizona, to begin the 14-year sentence; spokesperson Erica Dumas stated the FARA-related charges are 'vigorously contested on appeal' (build store)

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Record CTL-E-5792 · Combined Graph record U-07055 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · 4 sources · 1 mapped relationship.
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Researched and maintained by the CultureTechLens research program · CultureTechLens Combined Graph, Release 2026-11-04. Corrections are public: the corrections log.

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