July 19, 2002 10:37

MYSTIKAL ON RAPE AND EXTORTION CHARGES

Rapper bailed on $250,000 bond. Faces life prison sentence if convicted...

Rapper MYSTIKAL was yesterday (July 18) arrested on charges of rape and extortion.

The star and two aquaintances gave themselves up to police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana yesterday morning. They were bailed on a $250,000 bond in the afternoon.

Mystikal , Leland Ellis and Vercy Carter are accused of threatening to turn a 40-year-old female acquaintance in to police for cashing unauthorised checks from the rapper's bank account if she did not have sex with them, according to Associated Press.

A police report says the hip hop star demanded oral sex from the woman at his house on July 3. He then invited the men over and all three are said to have had sex with her.

"During the attacks, the victim was repeatedly threatened with prosecution of the checks and great bodily harm," police said. "The victim was allowed to leave the residence after the attacks. She was treated and released at a local hospital."

Mystikal faces as a mandatory life sentence if found guilty on the rape charges. Extortion carries a 15 year prison term.

According to MTV, Mystikal has been working on the follow-up to last year's 'Tarantula' album.