August 09, (THEWILL) – Canadian rapper, Tory Lanez, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting US artiste, Megan Ruth Pete, popularly known as Megan Thee Stallion, in the feet during an argument while he was drunk.
A Los Angeles judge read out the sentence after hearing how Lanez had shot at Megan Thee Stallion several times while she stood on the road.
The sentence follows Lanez’s conviction in December for assault with a semiautomatic firearm, discharging a firearm with gross negligence, and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle.
Prosecutors had requested a 13-year sentence, claiming Lanez had caused physical and emotional scarring to Megan Thee Stallion.
However, Lanez’s attorneys asked for him to be given probation or three years in prison and mandatory rehab, including for alcohol addiction.
In a protracted sentencing hearing that began on Monday, Judge David Herriford said he had received more than 70 letters on Lanez’s behalf, including from his celebrity friends.
One was from musician, Iggy Azalea, whom he said had requested a sentence that was transformational, not life-destroying. Another was from Lanez’s young son. But the judge ordered Lanez, who has been in jail since his conviction, to serve a decade behind bars.
He said the prosecution had proven two aggravating factors involving the use of a weapon and a particularly vulnerable victim but had not proven that the crime involved a high degree of cruelty, viciousness or callousness.
