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Rapper Mystikal, real name Michael Tyler, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after confessing to raping a woman in his Louisiana home in 2022.
The victim, who was present in the courtroom on Tuesday, demanded the maximum sentence, according to broadcaster WBRZ. In her statement to the court, she said that Tyler beat her, ripped her braids out of her hair and violently raped her.
Following her testimony, Tyler told those in attendance, “If I did this to you, I deserve the maximum sentence.” The rapper was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison for third-degree rape.
Admission of guilt instead of trial
In 2022, Tyler was arrested and later charged with first-degree rape, simple robbery, domestic violence and false imprisonment. At that time he pleaded not guilty; the trial was scheduled for March. Before the trial began, however, he agreed to a plea deal and pleaded guilty to third-degree aggravated rape – an agreement that significantly reduced his possible sentence, as the original charge of first-degree rape would have carried an automatic life sentence.
The victim stated in 2022 that Tyler had sexually abused her and held her against her will. At a hearing in August 2022, Detective Garrett Keith of the Sheriff’s Office testified that a female acquaintance of Tyler’s had visited his home on the evening of July 30 to discuss an alleged financial arrangement. Keith reported that the woman described that Tyler’s behavior took an abrupt turn: he became violent and then allegedly sexually assaulted her. Because of his criminal history, Tyler was held in custody without the possibility of bail.
Tyler was previously convicted of sexually assaulting his hairdresser in 2003 and served six years in prison before being released in 2010. In 2017, he faced another sex crime case in which he was accused of first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping. The charges were dropped by a grand jury in December 2020 based on newly surfaced evidence.