The US rapper Mystikal on Tuesday pleaded guilty to third-degree rape in connection with a case that led to his arrest in 2022.
Mystikal – whose given name is Michael Tyler – faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty in a state courthouse outside Baton Rouge, Louisiana, according to reports from local news outlets WBRZ and WAFB.
The 55-year-old Tyler had originally been charged with more serious offenses, to which he pleaded not guilty: first-degree rape, simple robbery, domestic abuse battery and false imprisonment.
Tyler’s guilty plea was reportedly part of a deal that reduced the overall severity of the case against him. If convicted as originally charged, he would have faced mandatory life imprisonment.
Mystikal scored a global hit in 2000 with Shake Ya Ass and subsequently was nominated for two Grammy awards. The single had a memorable cameo in the Hugh Grant, Toni Collette and Nicholas Hoult film About a Boy.
He also had an album debut at the top of the Billboard 200 before being sentenced to six years in prison in 2004 after being found guilty of sexual assault and extortion in a case involving his hairstylist.
That earlier conviction required Tyler to register as a sex offender.
In 2012, the lyricist was jailed for three months after an arrest on a misdemeanor domestic abuse count. Then, in 2017, he was charged with rape and kidnapping before authorities ultimately dropped the case.
The case to which Tyler pleaded guilty on Tuesday – before a 30 March trial date – centered on a victim who told investigators he had raped her, beaten her and choked her. She also said he took her phone and car keys to stop her from leaving – and then forced her to send him money over the platform Cash App.
Tyler’s sentencing hearing was tentatively scheduled for June.
Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana contributed
