Mystikal handed 20-year prison sentence for 2022 rape

This week, Mystikal was sentenced to twenty years in prison for raping a woman in his Louisiana home in 2022. Born Michael Tyler, the “Shake Ya Ass” rapper earned multiple Grammy nominations for his work in the early 2000s but, after years away from the spotlight, was arrested four years ago on a first-degree rape charge and was held without bond. The crime, if found guilty, carries a life sentence in the state of Louisiana, but a March plea deal reduced Tyler’s charge from first- to third-degree rape, which has a maximum sentence of twenty-five years. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to twenty years in prison. Days before his sentencing, Tyler asked the judge to rescind his guilty plea, as he “did not have sufficient opportunity to fully consider the consequences,” citing “significant emotional distress.” The judge denied the motion. 

At the hearing, Tyler’s victim told the court that, after the rapper accused her of robbing him, he took her keys and phone, punched and choked her, pulled out her braids, and raped her. She also alleged that Tyler did not allow her to leave his home until she sent him money via CashApp. “If I did that to you, I deserve the max sentence,” Tyler said in court. The victim, as reported by WBRZ, asked that Tyler receive the max sentence. The rapper previously pled guilty to sexually assaulting a hairstylist, coercing her into performing oral sex on him and his bodyguards by threatening to report her to authorities for cashing unauthorized checks. After receiving a six-year sentence for the crime in 2004, Tyler was released in 2010 and has been a registered sex offender ever since.

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