Crime and Justice
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Pras, also known as Pras Michel of Fugees fame, found himself at the center of a global conspiracy case where it became assumed that the rapper became an informant to the FBI. While that fact is currently being debunked by Pras’ legal team, that hasn’t stopped Twitter from roasting his Fugees bandmates Wyclef Jean and Ms. Lauryn Hill with John Forte catching strays in the process.
Pras Michel was recently in Washington to take the stand in his federal conspiracy trial where he faces up to 22 years in prison for allegedly involving himself in a global money laundering scheme and working with a foreign nation to influence U.S. government matters.
Pras did admit on the stand that he spoke with FBI agents regarding his connection to Malaysian financier and fugitive, Jho Low.
After examining the case further, Michel is actually on trial because he took Low’s money to the tune of millions and reentered a portion of those funds into President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and then attempted to ask the Trump Administration to move away from investigating Kow and extradite Chinese businessman, Guo Wengui who was connected to former Trump ally, Steve Bannon.
Hip-Hop Wired also received a statement this week from Michel’s legal team correcting the perception that their client turned informant.
From the statement:
Simply stated, if Pras had been an informant for the government, he wouldn’t be on trial right now. The government does not prosecute and threaten its informants with more than two decades of jail time.
Pras never was an “informant” for the FBI.
Nothing could be further from the truth, and the reckless suggestion that he was an informant carries life-threatening implications in hip-hop circles.
During a portion of Pras’ nearly two days of testimony last week, Pras described from the stand a decision he made a handful of years ago to approach the FBI in regard to a narrow issue related to his wider case.
In law enforcement parlance, an “informant” is someone who works directly with an investigating law enforcement agency either to cut a deal for him or herself, or with the direct interests of that law enforcement agency as part of their own agenda.
As it stands, Twitter won’t care about all of that legal mumbo jumbo and is always hellbent on getting those jokes off. We’ve got some of them listed below.
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Photo: Tasos Katopodis / Getty
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Pras Michel is at the center of an explosive federal conspiracy trial unfolding in Washington in connection to an alleged Malaysian embezzler who wanted a photo with former President Barack Obama. The Fugees rapper took the stand this week and claimed that he became an informant for the FBI after his dealings with Low Taek, also known as Jho Low, began to head into murky territory.
Pras Michel, 50, was inside the U.S. District Court in Washington on Tuesday (April 18) when he took the stand in the conspiracy trial where he faces charges of money laundering, campaign finance violations, and other related charges in what authorities say was a sham to cover the $4.5 billion Low, 41, allegedly stole from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund.
The most detailed accounts of Michel’s testimony came by way of Katie Buehler, a reporter for Law360 who covers court cases in Washington. In a series of tweets, Buehler was able to encapsulate how bizarre it is that a former top-charting rapper is at the center of a conspiracy case with global implications.
“Ex-Fugees rapper Pras Michel has taken the witness stand and is seemingly trying to charm the jury. Before answering any questions, he conducted a microphone check, saying, “Mic check 1, 2” twice. He also said “bless you” after an observer in the courtroom sneezed,” read the first tweet of a thread that broke down Michel’s testimony.
It was followed with, “Michel, who is accused of conspiring to funnel foreign money into and assert influence over American politics, explained he grew up in a strict, religious household and that his fame with the Fugees saw him go “from being on the streets of New York to Park Avenue overnight.”
Michel said he first met Low in 2006 in a New York nightclub where the businessman displayed reckless spending and exceptional wealth adding in his testimony that Low’s actions were, “something I’ve never witnessed in my life.”
Low essentially employed Michel to arrange the photo opportunity with President Obama by way of an Obama fundraising official who has decided not to testify by invoking his Fifth Amendment rights despite not facing charges.
According to Michel, he pocketed around $12 million and used $2 million of the cash Low gave him to attend an Obama fundraiser and somehow make the photo happen. The fundraising official instructed Michel to keep Low away from the fundraiser and then received another $20 million from Low for a chance at the photo.
The thread from the reporter ends with Michel saying he met with federal agents in New York in connection to Guo Wengui, a Chinese businessman arrested on money laundering, fraud, and other charges that China wanted to be extradited.
“I took it upon myself to report because I thought the FBI should know,” Michel said on the stand.
Read the entire thread below.
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Photo: Tasos Katopodis / Getty
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XXXTentacion appeared to be turning a corner in his musical and personal life when he was senselessly murdered by a trio of men in South Florida after a 2018 robbery attempt. The men were convicted of the murder in court on Thursday (April 6) with the three receiving sentences of life in prison.
NBC Miami was among several outlets reporting on the XXXTentacion murder trial where Dedrick Williams, Michael Boatwright, and Trayvon Newsome stood trial in a Broward County courthouse. According to the outlet, prosecutors did not seek the death penalty and Judge Michael Usan delivered a message to the men for carrying out the heinous crime.
“You’ll spend every hour and week and year in your cell. And one day you have passed on, and on that day you would’ve served your sentence,” Usan said.
The outlet also mentioned that the manager for XXXTentacion, Solomon Sobande, delivered a statement on behalf of the rapper’s family.
“This is a loss we will never truly recover from,” Sobande said. “We will never get to see Jahseh [Onfroy] live to his full potential, we will never get to watch him grow old, we will never get to watch him be a father.”
XXXTentacion’s grand aunt, Melody Jones, said she hoped that the men would receive the death penalty.
XXXTentacion was 20 at the time of his death.
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Carlos Watson, the founder of digital entertainment company Ozy Media, was arrested on Thursday (Feb. 23) and charged with securities fraud. The arrest comes after other members of Ozy Media’s executive team were charged with defrauding investors out of large sums of cash.
As seen in the New York Times, Carlos Watson, 53, was arrested Thursday morning in midtown Manhattan by FBI officials and later appeared in federal court in Brooklyn by the afternoon. Beyond fraud charges, Watson also faces identity theft charges and has pleaded not guilty to all counts and is now free on a $1 million bond.
According to the court filing, Watson, “engaged in a scheme to defraud Ozy’s potential investors, potential acquirers, lenders and potential lenders,” and baked the numbers on Ozy Media’s various holdings and results Eastern District of New York prosecutors wrote.
Along with Watson, Samir Rao, former Ozy Media CEO, and Suzee Han, Ozy Media’s former chief of staff, both pleaded guilty to fraud charges. The Securities and Exchange Commission then brought charges that the trio defrauded investors out of $50 million.
Much of the fall of Ozy Media can be traced to the fall of 2021 after the Times reported that an Ozy Media staffer pretended to be an executive from YouTube during a business call with Goldman Sachs involving a potential investment venture. The staffer sold a tall tale of YouTube being a strong business ally of Ozy Media and that content produced by Ozy performed well on YouTube’s channels.
According to Watson’s legal team, the arrest came as a shock to their side as Watson was reportedly working with authorities on the matter as recently as this week. If convicted, Carlos Watson could face a range of time of a mandatory minimum sentence of two years to a maximum of 37 years.
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Kay Flock was one of eight individuals indicted with racketeering and murder charges among two Bronx, N.Y. gangs. The list of charges for Kay Flock has the potential to land him in prison for life or the death penalty.
Kay Flock, real name Kevin Perez, shot and killed a man in broad daylight in December 2021, just as the budding NY Drill rapper was finding some success as a musical artist. According to the press release released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, Perez was a member of the Sev Side or DOA gang in the Bronx borough and was involved in several crimes with his codefendants dating back to 2019.
From the press release:
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Keechant L. Sewell, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced the unsealing today of an Indictment charging KEVIN PEREZ, a/k/a “Kay Flock,” a/k/a “Kay,” a/k/a “KK,” DEVON MASON, a/k/a “BJ,” ERVIN BEAMON, a/k/a “EJ,” NICHOLAS JOHNSON, a/k/a “Nick,” SEAN SMITH, a/k/a “Sticky,” and JOSSI CASTRO, a/k/a “Jesse,” with racketeering conspiracy and other crimes related to their membership in “Sev Side,” or “DOA,” a street gang based in the Bronx, New York.
In a superseding indictment from January, the office named two other men, Iszayah Rowson and Michael Gant in the charges and noted their membership in the Third Slide gang, which maintained close ties to the Sev Side group.
The charges the 19-year-old Perez faces are Racketeering Conspiracy, Murder in Aid of Racketeering, Use of a Firearm Resulting in Death, Attempted Murder and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon in Aid of Racketeering, Use of a Firearm for Attempted Murder, and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon.
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Photo: Kay Flock / @officialkayflock
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A top Mexican official who once helped his country tackle the growing problem of drug gangs has now been convicted of himself helping drug cartels move weight across south of the border.
Raw Story is reporting that on Tuesday (February 21), the former Secretary of Public Security of Mexico, Garcia Luna, was found guilty in a Brooklyn federal court of taking bribes from drug traffickers who he was supposed to be taking off the streets in exchange for protection and information on rivals and authorities. Prosecutors argued that Luna took millions of dollars in bribes from El Chapo’s Sinaloa Cartel from 2006-2012 when he was tasked to be taking down the now-infamous drug cartel. Luna now faces at least 20 years in prison for his transgression.
“Garcia Luna, who once stood at the pinnacle of law enforcement in Mexico, will now live the rest of his days having been revealed as a traitor to his country and to the honest members of law enforcement who risked their lives to dismantle drug cartels,” said US prosecutor Breon Peace, welcoming the verdict.
A spokesperson for the current Mexican government, which has accused Garcia Luna of stealing more than $200 million of public funds and has demanded his extradition, said in a tweet that “justice has arrived.”
Prosecutors argued that Garcia Luna, who held high-ranking security positions in Mexico from 2001 until 2012, was the cartel’s “partner in crime.”
We hope Luna enjoyed that money while he could because we doubt anyone’s going to be trying to break him out of prison like his former employer, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. Unfortunately for Luna, nine of the 26 people who testified against him were former drug traffickers from Mexico who cooperated with U.S. prosecutors in hopes of getting leniency in their own upcoming trials.
They included former several high-level cartel bosses, including Jesus “Rey” Zambada, Sergio Villarreal and Oscar “Lobo” Valencia.
They claimed to have paid millions of dollars to Garcia Luna collectively, and through Arturo Beltran Leyva, who ran his own drug cartel and served as a go-between with Garcia Luna, known as a “supercop,” in exchange for protection.
Nothing like snitching on law enforcement to help yourself get out of a sticky situation.
Garcia Luna was eventually arrested in Texas in December 2019 and charged with five counts including cocaine trafficking conspiracy and making false statements to authorities. His wife and two children were in court when his guilty verdict was announced.
You have to wonder if he’ll end up in the same prison as El Chapo. Just sayin.’
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Young Thug is currently under fire after it is alleged that the popular rapper conducted an illegal drug pill handoff while in a courtroom. According to surveillance footage and swirling accounts, it appears that an associate of the rapper passed him a narcotic pill.
Local outlet WSB-TV reports that Young Thug, real name Jeffrey Williams, was inside Fulton County Superior Court when a co-defendant, Kahlieff Adams, tried to slip Thug a Percocet pill and, according to his legal team, immediately handed it over.
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“His side is the truth. The reality is Mr. Williams had nothing to do with what went on in the courtroom on yesterday. One of the co-defendants on his way to the restroom attempted to pass something to Mr. Williams, who immediately turned it over to the deputy,” Keith Adams said.
When asked if Williams knew it was Percocet being handed to him, Keith Adams said Williams did not know what it was.
“He did not know. We don’t know what it is, did not know. It was turned over to a deputy right away,” Keith Adams explained.
Along with the pill, officials found marijuana, tobacco, and other items wrapped in plastic and food seasoning on Adams’ person in what might have been an attempt to smuggle the items behind bars. An attorney speaking on Adams’ behalf maintains his client’s innocence and shouted down the allegations while charging the state with delaying the jury selection process.
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Meek Mill wasn’t capping when he said his judge was doing him dirty, allegedly. . The same Philadelphia judge who jailed the rapper, and who he essentially accused of having a vendetta against him, has had her criminal cases reassigned, and now she’s suing.
The Philadephia Inquirer reports that Common Pleas Court Judge Genece Brinkley has been transferred to civil court and all of the pending criminal cases she was initially tasked with have been reassigned. Brinkley is the same judge who jailed Meek Mill for a parole violation in 2017.
The judge’s behavior while she was overseeing Meek’s case had most anyone taking a look at the details saying she was holding a grudge. For example, in 2018, the Philadelphia District Attorney recommended Meek’s 2008 conviction, for which the rapper at the time was sitting in jail for because of the aforementioned parole violation, should be dismissed. However, Brinkley refused to toss the charges despite the DA noting Meek had already served time for the charges.
“Like many who are currently incarcerated, I was the victim of a miscarriage of justice — carried out by an untruthful officer, as determined by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, and an unfair judge,” said Meek in New York Times op-ed in 2019.
Meek was eventually released on bail, but only after much outcry at the audacity of his treatment by the justice system (the old criminal case was dismissed after he pled guilty to a misdemeanor firearm charge). Flash forward to 2022, and Brinkley’s behavior on the bench is still looking funny in the light, and she’s now claiming that she is the actual victim.
Per the Philadelphia Inquirer:
The unfolding legal battle is the latest chapter in a months-long conflict between Common Pleas Court Judge Genece Brinkley and judicial leadership, a feud that began in part over questions about whether Brinkley was showing up to the courthouse on time or managing her caseload effectively. Since the reassignment, lawyers and judges who have reviewed dozens of Brinkley’s cases have discovered a history of her appearing to impose illegal sentences, allow sentences to run past their maximum date, or failing to swiftly address cases remanded to her by higher courts.
This summer, Brinkley, who is Black, filed a gender and racial discrimination complaint against two supervising judges on the court, both of whom are also Black women. And earlier this month, she turned to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court seeking to reverse the decision to reassign her cases, saying in a petition that it “raises unwarranted suspicions about [her] integrity and performance.”
A judge coming under question is a big deal due to the power they wield, deciding to imprison or free someone through what’s supposed to be a lens of justice. Since Brinkley’s transfer, her past cases have come under review by lawyers and judges to see if there are more examples of unseemly judicial behavior. What has been found so far, are numerous cases of lengthy prison terms for suspect parole violations, with many now being outright dismissed, or cases of parolees getting his with the jig.
In the weeks since the reassignment of Brinkley’s cases, lawyers and other judges have been reviewing dozens of matters she presided over and discovered a range of issues. At hearings this month addressing her open probation cases, for example, one lawyer called the situation a “mess.” And Common Pleas Court Judge Mia Perez — who presided over the hearings — was visibly bewildered by some matters that crossed her desk.
In one, Brinkley had sentenced Jeremy Speedling to three years’ probation for a 2019 simple assault and theft. But after Speedling moved to New York, his public defender said, Brinkley sent a letter to his probation officer there changing the terms of his supervision — and then found him in violation and ordered him jailed for 11½ to 23 months.
Brinkley “found [Speedling] in violation for terms he wasn’t aware of,” said the public defender, Elisa Downey-Zayas.
Bruh…
Read the full, disturbing and maddening story right here. Meek picked an inopportune time to leave Twitter, eh?
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The Texas police officer who shot and killed Black woman Atatiana Jefferson in 2019 was hit with an 11-year, 10-month prison sentence on Tuesday (Dec. 20). Forth Worth police officer Aaron Dean entered the home of Jefferson’s mother for a wellness check where the biology graduate was watching her nephew.
The tragic shooting of Atatiana Jefferson occurred when a neighbor called in a nonemergency request to check in on the home. Upon approaching the home, Dean, 38, opened fire, striking Jefferson while her 8-year-old nephew was in the room. Days after the shooting, Dean resigned from the Fort Worth Police Department. According to several accounts, Jefferson and her nephew were up late playing video games.
Local outlet KERA shared in its reporting that the family of Jefferson addressed Dean, with the former officer, who is white, showing little to no remorse.
“I have loathed the idea of you with your family during the holiday seasons for the last three years. Today, I have just arrived at pity,” Ashley Carr, the sister of Jefferson, said.
Jefferson was reportedly saving money to attend medical school in order to assist others, this after obtaining a degree in biology in 2014 from Xavier University.
Dean will be eligible for parole after he serves half of his sentence.
Atatiana Jefferson was 28 at the time of her passing.
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The YSL RICO case goes to trial next month and among the more than two dozen defendants, two more have come forth to enter guilty pleas. The pair joins Sergio “Gunna” Kitchens and Walter “DK” Murphy of alleged YSL members who entered plea deals.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that rapper Slimelife Shawty, real name Wunnie Lee, entered an Alford Plea, the same as Gunna, which means that he maintains his innocence while accepting that it was in his best legal interest to accept the deal. Slimelife Shawty pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act as a first offender. His 10-year sentence was commuted to one-year with time serviced and nine years of probation.
Martinez Arnold, who is a native of California, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the state’s RICO act and participation in criminal street gang activity. With his plea, Arnold had five gun and drug charges dropped and is allowed to visit California to see family.
Both men were ordered to honor a curfew that runs from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. unless they are in school, working or in need of medical care.
As a result of the plea deals taken this week, YSL defendants, including Young Thug, remain ahead of the Jan. 4 jury selection with a handful of the group stating they are without legal representation.
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Photo: Getty