Mystikal, the New Orleans rapper behind "Shake Ya A**" and "Danger (Been So Long)," has been sentenced to 20 years in Louisiana state prison after pleading guilty to a 2022 rape at his Prairieville home.

Mystikal, whose real name is Michael Lawrence Tyler, appeared in Ascension Parish court Tuesday for sentencing. Per Rolling Stone, the victim asked the judge for the maximum sentence. She told the court Tyler punched her, choked her, pulled braids out of her hair, and forcibly raped her.

After the victim spoke, Tyler addressed the court. "If I did that to you, I deserve the max sentence," he said, facing the front of the courtroom. He was sentenced to 20 years for third-degree rape, five years short of the maximum 25-year penalty for that charge.

The 55-year-old rapper was originally arrested in July 2022 and charged with first-degree rape, simple robbery, felony domestic abuse battery by strangulation, simple criminal damage to property, and false imprisonment. The first-degree rape charge alone carried a possible life sentence. In March 2026, Tyler entered a plea deal that reduced the charge to third-degree rape, capping his sentence at 20 years. Prosecutors dropped the nine non-rape charges in the deal.

Per Variety, the woman, who had been a business associate of Tyler's, said he attacked her after she went to his home to discuss financial commitments he had made. According to the arrest warrant, Tyler took her car keys and phone, prevented her from leaving, and forced her to send him money through CashApp after the assault. Police interviewed her at the hospital, where she had visible injuries.

Last Friday, Tyler filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, arguing he had not had "sufficient opportunity to fully consider the consequences" and was under "significant emotional distress." The motion was denied and sentencing proceeded as scheduled. Tyler has been held without bond since his 2022 arrest.

This is not Tyler's first sex crime conviction. In 2003, he pleaded guilty to sexual battery and extortion in a separate case involving his hairstylist and served six years in prison. He is a lifetime registered sex offender. The judge ordered Tyler to maintain his sex offender registration when he is eventually released. With credit for time served, he will be eligible for release in his late 60s.