Rapper Mystikal was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted of raping a woman at his Louisiana home in 2022. His legal name is Michael Lawrence Tyler. The 53-year-old was once a multiple Grammy nominee in the early 2000s and had been held without bail since 2022.
In March, Mystikal pleaded guilty to rape under a plea deal after the original charge, first-degree rape, which carried a possible life sentence, was reduced to a lesser felony. Just days before sentencing, he tried to withdraw that plea, arguing he had not been given enough time to fully consider its consequences.
The complainant asked the court to impose the maximum punishment. She said Mystikal beat her, choked her, pulled out her braids, and raped her by force at his home. In court, Mystikal said, “If I did that to you, I deserve the maximum sentence.”
Mystikal rose to fame in the 1990s and became one of hip-hop’s prominent names, best known for the hit “Shake Ya Ass,” which was nominated for a Grammy in 2000. He later earned more Grammy nominations for the album “Tarantula” and the single “Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against The Wall).” The case is not his first involving sexual offenses, after he pleaded guilty to sexual battery in 2003 and received a six-year prison term.
