*Former attorney for Pras Michel, David Kenner, pleaded guilty this week to a contempt of court charge for leaking confidential federal grand jury files to two reporters in 2023.
Per Billboard, citing a court filing Thursday, prosecutors told a federal judge that Kenner leaked “swathes of sensitive internal government records” to reporters and plead guilty to a misdemeanor over “agreed to accept responsibility for violating the court’s protective order.”
The leaked files contained information about the fraud trial involving Kenner’s former client, rapper Pras of The Fugees.
Kenner admitted to violating court rules by sharing the sealed documents with reporters before the high-profile trial.
“Unfortunately, former attorney David Kenner failed at every turn to competently represent Pras over the course of this lengthy legal battle,” said Erica Dumas, spokesperson for Pras Michel.
It remains unclear what consequences Kenner will face under the plea deal.
Meanwhile, we reported previously that Pras Michel is pushing for a new trial after being convicted on fraud charges last year.
The hip-hop star claims his legal team used an experimental artificial intelligence program to minimize legal work. Pras was convicted in April 2023 on ten criminal counts “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,” according to the AP.
Per a report from Politico, the outlet writes: “In a withering motion filed Monday night with a federal judge in Washington, Michel’s new attorneys argued that his Los Angeles-based lawyer David Kenner relied on the fledgling technology at critical points in Michel’s trial, contributing to “prejudicial ineffective assistance of counsel.”
Pras said in a motion for a new trial that he had been the subject of “ineffective representation” from Kenner.
Pras alleges in the suit that Kenner “overlooked nearly every colorable defense” and “failed to object to damaging and inadmissible testimony.”
READ MORE: Pras Seeks New Trial Because Lawyer Used ‘Experimental’ AI Program
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