RAPPER MYSTIKAL SENTENCED TO 20 YEARS FOR 2022 RAPE

Michael Lawrence Tyler, known professionally as Mystikal, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping a woman at his Louisiana home in 2022. Tyler pleaded guilty to third-degree rape in March under a plea deal that reduced the charge from first-degree rape, which carries an automatic life sentence. Days before his Tuesday sentencing hearing, he requested that a judge withdraw his guilty plea, stating he did not have sufficient opportunity to fully consider the consequences. The victim spoke in court before sentencing and requested the maximum sentence, describing how Tyler punched her, choked her, pulled out her braids and forcibly raped her at his Prairieville residence, approximately 29 kilometres from Baton Rouge.

Tyler has been held without bond at Ascension Parish Jail since his 2022 arrest. The plea deal reduced the sentence cap by five years from the maximum punishment available for the crime. In response to the victim's testimony, Tyler stated that if he had done such actions to someone, he would deserve the maximum sentence. Tyler rose to national recognition during the 1990s and achieved commercial success with his 2000 single "Shake Ya A(asterisk)(asterisk)," which received a Grammy nomination in the best rap solo performance category.

This marks Tyler's second conviction related to sexual offences. In 2003, he pleaded guilty to sexual battery and received a six-year prison sentence. That same year, he received Grammy nominations in two categories: best rap album for "Tarantula" and best male rap solo performance for "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against The Wall)."