大象传媒

A jury in New York has convicted the American hip hop artist, Pras Michel, on 10 charges relating to a foreign lobbying campaign by a wealthy Malaysian businessman.

The trial followed an admission by the Fugees rapper that he had received $20 million dollars in exchange for helping the fugitive billionaire, Jho Low, get a photo with the then US President Obama.

Prosecutors said he also received money in exchange for advocating for a Chinese dissident to be returned to China.

Michel was accused of acting as an unregistered foreign agent, tampering with witnesses, defrauding the United States government and corruption, among other charges.

Dan Friedman is a journalist with Mother Jones news magazine. He told Newsday: 鈥淚t was pretty disastrous for him to have taken the stand because he admitted that he had made these illegal campaign contributions. He admitted that he accepted a large amount of money from Jho Low to try to help him influence the United States government.鈥�

(Picture: Shows rapper Pras Michel as he leaves court after being convicted. Credit: Nathan Howard / Reuters.)

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