Ascension Parish, LA – Rapper Mystikal, whose legal name is michael Tyler, remains held without bond following a 2022 indictment on charges of first-degree rape adn kidnapping. Tyler initially appeared in Ascension Parish court on May 19, 2022, after a delay from a previously scheduled March appearance. A gag order issued by the judge has limited public statements regarding the case.
The 2022 indictment also includes charges of simple criminal damage to property, false imprisonment, domestic abuse battery by strangulation, simple robbery, possession of heroin, illegal possession of Xanax, possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Tyler’s attorney, Joel Pearce, stated following the indictment, “It’s an indictment. It means nothing. We look forward to our day in court.” His new attorney, Tiffany Myles Crosby, requested a delay in proceedings on May 19, 2025, to familiarize herself with the case.
This is not Tyler’s first legal challenge. In 2004,he was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to sexual battery. Prior to sentencing, in July 2002, a hairstylist alleged that Tyler and two bodyguards forced her to perform oral sex after accusing her of stealing $80,000 in checks.Tyler was released in 2010 and registered as a sex offender in Louisiana.
Two of his bodyguards, Leland ”Pokie” Ellis and Vercy Carter, received prison sentences of three and four years respectively in connection with the 2002 incident. Tyler served an additional three months in prison in 2012 for a misdemeanor domestic abuse count,which his attorney described as an “unfortunate incident” between domestic partners.
In 2018, Tyler and another man faced first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping charges, but those were dropped in December 2020 after review by a second grand jury. Tyler spent 18 months in jail during that period.
