Mystikal, 'Shake It Fast' rapper, gets 20 years in prison for rape

Rapper Mystikal has been sentenced in his third-degree rape case.

A judge sentenced the "Danger" rapper, 55, to 20 years in prison without parole on June 16, five years shy of the maximum and with time served factored in, according to Ascension Parish, Louisiana, court records obtained by USA TODAY. According to Louisiana station WBRZ, the unnamed victim asked the judge to sentence the Grammy-nominated rapper to the maximum, after testifying that he punched her, strangled her, pulled her braids out and forcibly raped her in his Prairieville, Louisiana, home in 2022.

According to the court records, the judge also ordered that the rapper, born Michael Tyler, must register as a sex offender upon his release and have no contact with the woman, including through third parties.

In March, Tyler pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal that reduced his first-degree rape charge to a third-degree offense. Days before sentencing, he attempted to withdraw the plea, saying he had not had enough time to "fully consider the consequences," according to WBRZ. He later reversed course and withdrew that request, court records show.

On June 16, Tyler initially tried to address the victim before addressing the court. "If I did that to you, I deserve the max sentence," he said, per the station.

Tyler's legal team has 30 days to appeal his sentence. USA TODAY has reached out to Mystikal's lawyer for comment.

Tyler was first arrested in July 2022, after a woman who had been admitted to the emergency room accused him of rape, per the Ascension Parish District Attorney's office. He had been facing nine other criminal charges – including battery, drug possession charges and false imprisonment – the latter after the victim alleged he took her keys and held her against her will, per an arrest warrant previously obtained by USA TODAY. Prosecutors filed notices in March indicating they were no longer pursuing the other charges.

Tyler has been accused of rape before.

The rapper served six years in prison after pleading guilty in 2003 to sexual battery. In December 2020, prosecutors in Caddo Parish, in northwest Louisiana, dropped rape and kidnapping charges that had kept him jailed for 18 months, which stemmed from a 2016 accusation. He was not convicted of other charges, including marijuana possession and misdemeanor domestic violence, that had been brought against him since the mid-1990s.

The Cash Money Records alum gained prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s with songs like "Shake It Fast" and "Danger (Been So Long)."

Contributing: Melina Khan and Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY