Overview
- Michael Tyler entered the guilty plea on March 17 in Ascension Parish court, halting a trial that had been set for March 30.
- Prosecutors dismissed nine other counts via nolle prosequi during the hearing, leaving the third-degree rape conviction as the sole count.
- A judge ordered a presentence investigation, with sentencing scheduled for June 2026 and a maximum possible term of 20 years.
- Authorities say the victim reported the July 2022 assault at a hospital with visible injuries, and a search of Tyler’s home recovered evidence that prosecutors said corroborated her account along with illegal narcotics.
- Tyler has been held without bond since his 2022 arrest and previously served six years for a 2003 sexual battery conviction that made him a registered sex offender.