WASHINGTON — 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 funneling money from a now-fugitive Malaysian financer through straw donors to Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, then trying to squelch a 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 charges, including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.

The defense 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 defense. 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 defense 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.

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Morgan Wallen‘s team shut down rumors that he canceled his Sunday concert in Oxford, Mississippi, because he drank too much alcohol.

On Sunday the “Last Night” singer abruptly canceled his show in Mississippi, citing vocal rest ordered by his doctor. The sudden cancellation left fans — nearly 60,000 of whom packed Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at the University of Mississippi — stunned and looking for an explanation.

Days after the canceled concert, a TikTok user shared a video of a venue security guard claiming that Wallen “losing his voice is bull crap.” The security guard also claimed the singer “couldn’t walk,” was “too drunk” to perform and left in an ambulance.

As of Wednesday morning, the video has garnered more than 3.7 million views on TikTok.

BEST Crowd Management, which coordinated the security detail at the Mississippi show, condemned its employee in a statement shared on social media on Monday.

“A hired employee of BEST Crowd Management made false claims as it related to last night’s Morgan Wallen concert and we do not stand behind the detail in his statement,” the company said.

Wallen’s record label, Big Loud, has also dismissed the security guard’s claims. In a statement shared with The Times on Wednesday, Big Loud CEO and co-founder Seth England echoed that the singer “cancelled Sunday’s show at Oxford because he lost his voice.”

“He is on vocal rest per his doctor’s orders and he’s doing everything he can to be back at 100%,” England added.

In a since-expired Instagram story shared on Monday, England thanked BEST for “correcting your employee, who made up an entire story that was nowhere close to true,” Page Six reported.

“Every detail was false,” England continued.

On Monday, Wallen apologized to fans on Instagram and announced that he would postpone three other stops on the tour due to “doctor-ordered vocal rest.”

“I appreciate and understand everything you do to get to my shows,” Wallen wrote in a since-expired Instagram story. “So it would be unfair of me to put on a show that I know will not be 100%.”

Wallen could be facing legal backlash over his canceled concert. At least two law firms announced they are considering suing the singer to recover thousands of dollars that fans spent to attend the Sunday concert.

Mississippi law firm Langston & Lott wrote on Facebook that it will “re-file a class action lawsuit” regarding the canceled show after it voluntarily dismissed its suit on Tuesday.

Benjamin Philley, of law firm Kilpatrick & Philley, said on Facebook that Wallen’s abrupt cancellation “raises red flags and should be investigated.”

“A refund of the ticket price is insufficient to compensate us for our actual out-of-pocket expense,” the statement continued. “Like everyone affected, I want answers and will not rest until I get them.”

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Rumer Willis has welcomed a baby girl, making her celebrity parents, Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, first-time grandparents.

The "Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood" and "Empire" actor on Tuesday announced the baby's arrival with her boyfriend, indie musician Derek Richard Thomas.

"Louetta Isley Thomas Willis You are pure magic Born at home on Tuesday April 18th You are more than we ever dreamed of," the 34-year-old mother and Thomas wrote in a joint Instagram post, sharing a sweet photo of the newborn sleeping peacefully.

Louetta is the first child for the 2015 "Dancing With the Stars" champ, who announced in December that she was pregnant, albeit in a less flashy way than Moore's groundbreaking Vanity Fair cover in 1991.

"[My parents] are so excited. My sisters are so excited, and it's so fun to be bringing in the first grandkid in our family, especially because we're such a huge group at this point," Willis told People earlier this month, showcasing her own version of her mother's iconic pictorial.

The new parents also performed together in March at their intimate baby shower, hosted by Moore and Willis' sisters, Tallulah and Scout, People reported. Days before that, Willis stepped out with her mom for the Versace fall/winter collection presentation at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood.

Willis' family and friends flooded the comments section of the birth announcement with well wishes. Her mom, 60, who had previously boasted about entering her "hot kooky unhinged grandma era," wrote, "Pure love for this little birdie." And Willis' stepmother, Emma Heming Willis, wrote, "Omg we love her so so much." Fellow new mom Riley Keough and actors Jenna Dewan, Alyssa Milano and Hilary Duff also gushed over the baby girl.

Meanwhile, Willis' blended family has publicly supported and shared updates about her action-star dad. They revealed in March 2022 that the "Die Hard" and "Armageddon" star, 68, would be retiring from acting due to aphasia ; and disclosed in February that he had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia , an incurable degenerative brain disease .

From combined wire reports