You got to figure that
with a song like "Shake Ya Ass" in his repertoire,
Mystikal would have been real popular with the
inmates.
So it's a good thing the chart-topping gangsta
rapper didn't get any prison time after copping a
plea to charges stemming from the sexual assault
of his hairstylist.
Mystikal put in face time in a Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, courthouse Thursday to plead guilty to
extortion and sexual battery. Had he not pleaded,
he would have faced trial on the more serious
charge of aggravated rape, which carries a maximum
penalty of life in prison.
As it stands, the 31-year-old rapper will mark the
next five years on probation for the extortion
charge. He'll return to the courtroom on September
25 to find out his fate on the sexual battery rap.
The Dirty South hip-hopster and two of his
bodyguards were rung up on the rape charges last
July, after the three men accused the rapper's
40-year-old hairstylist of stealing checks and
told her she needed to perform sex acts with them
to keep them from going to police.
Police later said they searched Mystikal's
apartment and turned up a smoking gun--a videotape
with footage of the assault.
Mystikal, whose real name is Michael Tyler,
initially pleaded innocent to the charges. His
attorney, David Bourland, told the Associated
Press that the rapper disputed some of the
allegations against him, but agreed that sexual
battery took place.
Following his plea, the rapper said, "I'm glad
that it's getting behind me."
As part of the deal cut with prosecutors,
extortion counts were dropped against his
bodyguards Leland Ellis, 37, and Vercy Carter, 35,
in exchange for them pleaded guilty to sexual
battery. They, too, are due back in September for
sentencing on that charge.
A onetime protégé of Master P, Mystikal hit it big
as a solo act with 1998's Ghetto Fabulous, which
debuted at number five on the charts just days
after he was busted on pot and gun charges in his
native Louisiana. Mystikal's follow-up CD, Let's
Get Ready, debuted at number one in October 2000,
chalked up double-platinum sales and contained the
Grammy-nominated booty anthem "Shake Ya Ass."
His most recent album, Tarantula, didn't fare as
well, opening at 33 in 2001. It did, however, snag
Grammy nods for Best Rap Album and Best Male Rap
Solo Performance for the hit track "Bouncin' Back
(Bumpin' Me Against the Wall)."
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