The Grammy-nominated New Orleans rapper Mystikal has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for third-degree rape.
The rapper, 55, whose legal name is Michael Lawrence Tyler, pleaded guilty to the charge in March. He was arrested in July 2022, a day after a woman told the police that she had been beaten, sexually assaulted and held against her will at Mr. Tyler’s home in Prairieville, La.
Mr. Tyler pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree rape, false imprisonment and battery. He later reached an agreement to reduce the charges in exchange for a guilty plea.
During a hearing in Louisiana’s 23rd Judicial District Court on Tuesday, Judge Steven Tureau gave Mr. Tyler the maximum sentence allowed under the agreement. The victim in the case, who spoke at the hearing, according to the local ABC affiliate, WBRZ, requested that Mr. Tyler be punished to the full extent of the law.
A lawyer for Mr. Tyler did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
An Army veteran, Mr. Tyler rose to prominence in the late 1990s as a member of the pioneering Southern rap label No Limit Records. He was the breakout performer on Silkk the Shocker’s hit 1998 single “It Ain’t My Fault,” which introduced mainstream audiences to Mr. Tyler’s distinctive, off-kilter vocal patterns and rapid, staccato phrasing.
Mr. Tyler reached the height of his commercial success with his fourth album, “Let’s Get Ready,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in October 2000. It featured the sonically bracing singles “Shake Ya Ass” and “Danger (Been So Long),” both produced by the Neptunes. His subsequent album, “Tarantula,” was nominated in 2003 for the Grammy Awards for best rap album and best male rap solo performance.
Around that time, Mr. Tyler faced a series of criminal convictions. He pleaded guilty to sexual assault in 2003, for which he served six years in prison. In 2006, he was found guilty of tax evasion. In 2012, Mr. Tyler spent three months in jail for a probation violation stemming from a domestic abuse battery charge.
After his arrest in 2022, prosecutors accused Mr. Tyler of terrorizing a woman who he said had stolen $100 from him. The woman said that he had punched her, ripped the braids out of her hair, taken her phone and keys to prevent her from leaving and sexually assaulted her.
Days before his sentencing, a lawyer representing Mr. Tyler requested that his guilty plea be withdrawn, arguing that the rapper had not had adequate time to consider the consequences before entering it. Judge Tureau denied that request.
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