Canadian rapper Tory Lanez has been sentenced to a 10-year prison.

 

Canadian rapper Tory Lanez has been sentenced to a 10-year prison term following his conviction for shooting US artist Megan Thee Stallion. The sentencing was delivered by a Los Angeles judge, who heard that Lanez had fired at Megan Thee Stallion during an inebriated altercation after a Hollywood party.

The judge's decision comes after Lanez was found guilty in December of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, discharging a firearm with gross negligence, and possessing a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. Despite prosecutors seeking a 13-year sentence, the judge settled on a decade behind bars.

During the sentencing hearing, which spanned multiple days, Judge David Herriford revealed that he had received over 70 letters on Lanez's behalf, including from notable figures such as musician Iggy Azalea. Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, testified that Lanez had pointed a gun at her and fired shots while demanding her to "Dance, bitch."

Megan Thee Stallion expressed her ongoing emotional distress since the incident, noting that Lanez had not only harmed her physically but also belittled her trauma. She voiced that she had felt vilified and struggled to find peace in the aftermath of the shooting.

Lanez, known by his birth name Daystar Peterson, and Megan Thee Stallion had been involved in an intimate relationship prior to the altercation. The incident occurred in July 2020, after a party at Kylie Jenner's residence, when an argument broke out in a car carrying Megan Thee Stallion, Lanez, his bodyguard, and her friend Kelsey Harris.

In reaching the sentencing decision, the judge cited the use of a weapon and the vulnerability of the victim as aggravating factors. However, he did not find sufficient evidence to support claims of a high degree of cruelty, viciousness, or callousness in the crime. Lanez has been incarcerated since his conviction and now faces a decade behind bars.