Tory Lanez gets 10 years in prison for shooting Megan Thee Stallion
Rapper Tory Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in state prison Tuesday for shooting hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion in 2020.
Lanez was convicted in December of shooting Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, in her feet in the Hollywood Hills three years ago.
Prosecutors asked Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Herriford to sentence the 31-year-old Canadian star to 13 years in state prison, while defense attorneys requested probation for their client.
Lanez was convicted on Dec. 23 of one felony count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, having a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, has remained behind bars since he was ordered to be taken into custody shortly after the jury's verdict was read.
During the trial, Megan Thee Stallion testified that Lanez told her to "dance, b----," and shot her in the feet during a July 12, 2020, argument following a get-together at Kylie Jenner's home. She said she had no doubt that Lanez fired the shots, and that he later offered her $1 million not to say anything.
Under cross-examination, the Grammy Award-winning singer said she initially had no intention of talking about what had happened and "didn't want to be a snitch," but felt she had to "defend my name" when she saw that people were "making things up" and suggesting that she hadn't been shot.
In a sentencing memorandum, Deputy District Attorneys Kathy Ta and Alexander Bott wrote that Lanez "brazenly fired five rounds, emptying his gun, at a vulnerable victim" and that the shooting left Pete "bleeding, injured and traumatized."
Lanez "suffered from a mental condition, alcohol-use disorder, at the time of the offense," according to the defense's sentencing memorandum, in which his attorneys wrote that "the evidence of guilt is questionable at best and by no means overwhelming."
During a hearing in May, the judge rejected the defense's bid for a new trial. Jose Baez -- who became one of the rapper's attorneys after the trial -- said Lanez's trial attorney, George Mgdesyan, did not have enough time to
prepare for trial and ultimately "failed" his client.
