PRAIRIEVILLE, LOUISIANA — Michael Lawrence Tyler received a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to third-degree rape. The sentencing hearing took place on a Tuesday in June 2026. The rapper had entered a plea agreement in March that capped his sentence at 20 years for third-degree rape. This plea agreement reduced the original charge from first-degree rape, which carries an automatic life sentence.

Tyler filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea shortly before sentencing. The court filing stated Tyler claimed he lacked sufficient opportunity to evaluate the plea agreement's consequences before accepting it. The filing further alleged that Tyler was experiencing emotional distress and felt pressured to make an immediate decision regarding the plea. A judge dismissed the motion to withdraw the plea.

Prosecutors dismissed additional charges as part of the agreement, including false imprisonment, simple criminal damage to property, simple robbery, and domestic abuse battery by strangulation. Deputies from the Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a sexual assault at a local hospital on July 30, 2022, at approximately 11:58 p.m., following the alleged assault at Tyler's residence in Prairieville, Louisiana. The victim sustained minor injuries from the assault that required hospitalization.

The victim appeared in court on Tuesday and requested that the judge impose the maximum sentence. She testified that Tyler punched her, choked her, pulled braids from her hair, and forcibly raped her. The victim also alleged that Tyler took her keys and phone, raped her while she searched for money, and forced her to transfer funds via CashApp before allowing her to leave. Tyler told the courtroom, "If I did that to you, I deserve the max sentence."

Sheriff's Detective Garrett Keith testified in August 2022 that a female acquaintance visited Tyler's home on July 30, 2022, to discuss a financial agreement before Tyler allegedly became violent and sexually assaulted her. Tyler has been held without bond at the Ascension Parish Jail since his 2022 arrest.

Tyler pleaded guilty to sexual battery in 2003 for assaulting his hairstylist and was sentenced to six years in prison. He was released from prison for that conviction in 2010. Tyler was jailed for three months in 2012 on misdemeanor domestic abuse charges. He was also charged with first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping in 2017, but a grand jury dismissed those charges in December 2020 after additional evidence was discovered. Tyler is a recording artist known for the songs titled "Shake Ya Ass", "Danger (Been So Long)", and "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against The Wall)". He received Grammy nominations in 2003 in the categories of Best Rap Album for the album "Tarantula", Best Male Rap Solo Performance for "Bouncin' Back" and Best Rap Solo Performance for "Shake Ya Ass".