Mystikal’s latest legal battle has ended with a lengthy prison sentence.
According to local ABC affiliate WBRZ, the rapper, whose real name is Michael Tyler, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday June 16 after pleading guilty to breaking into a woman’s house and raping her in 2022.
The 55-year-old musician appeared in a Louisiana courtroom where the victim, whose identity has not been publicly disclosed, urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence.
The Grammy-nominee ultimately got sentenced to 20 years, five years short of the maximum punishment allowed under Louisiana law.
What are Mystikal’s charges?
Mystikal was arrested in 2022 on charges including first-degree rape, simple robbery, domestic abuse batter-strangulation, false imprisonment, and simple criminal damage to property.
Earlier this year, he accepted a plea deal for a lesser charge of third-degree rape. According to WBRZ, Mystikal recently attempted to withdraw his guilty plea, arguing that he “did not have sufficient opportunity to fully consider the consequences” and was “under significant emotional distress and felt substantial pressure to make an immediate decision.” The judge dismissed the motion.
The rapper has had a long history of domestic violence and sexual assault. In 2003, Mystikal pleaded guilty to sexual battery and extortion in a separate case involving his hairstylist and served six years in prison. After getting out of prison in 2010, he was required to register as a sex offender.
He was arrested again in 2012 for misdemeanor domestic abuse charges and given a three-month sentence. In 2017, he was arrested and charged with rape, though those charges were dropped years later.
Mystikal rose to fame in the 1990s with hits including Shake Ya Ass and as a member of the rap group 504 Boyz.
