A US judge has sentenced rapper Tory Lanez to 10 years in prison for shooting and wounding hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Herriford handed down the sentence to the 31-year-old Lanez, who was convicted in December of assault with a semi-automatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

Tuesday’s sentence brings an end to a dramatic trial that created a cultural firestorm in the hip-hop community, churning up issues including the reluctance of Black victims to speak to police, gender politics in hip-hop, online toxicity and protecting Black women.

Herriford said it was “difficult to reconcile” the kind, charitable person and good father many people described Lanez as being during the sentencing hearing with the person who fired the gun at Megan.

“Sometimes good people do bad things,” Herriford said. “Actions have consequences, and there are no winners in this case.”

Megan testified that Lanez fired the gun at the back of her feet and shouted for her to dance as she walked away from an SUV in which they had been riding in July 2020, after leaving a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home. She had to have surgery to remove bullet fragments.

“Since I was viciously shot by the defendant, I have not experienced a single day of peace,” Megan said in a statement read by a prosecutor.

“Slowly but surely, I’m healing and coming back, but I will never be the same.”

Lanez asked Herriford for mercy just before the judge delivered his sentence. Lanez requested either probation or a minimal prison sentence.

“If I could turn back the series of events that night and change them,” I would, Lanez continued. “The victim was my friend. The victim is someone I still care for to this day.”

He added, “Everything I did wrong that night, I take full responsibility for.”

Lanez’s father, Sonstar Peterson, had given an emotional statement about his son losing his mother at age 11. “I don’t think anybody ever gets over that. But his music became his outlet.”

Lanez began releasing mixtapes in 2009 and saw a steady rise in popularity, moving on to major-label albums. His last two reached the top 10 on Billboard’s charts.

Megan Thee Stallion, 28, was already a major rising star at the time of the shooting, and her prominence has surged since. Born Megan Pete, she won a Grammy for best new artist in 2021, and she had No.1 singles with Savage, featuring Beyoncé, and as a guest on Cardi B’s WAP.

Lawyers for Lanez had said in a sentencing memo that he should get only probation and be released from jail to enter a residential substance abuse program. They plan to appeal the conviction.

– AAP