Tory Lanez has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the July 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion, but according to Boosie Badazz, he should count himself lucky.
Shortly after Tory’s sentence was handed down in a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday (August 8), ending a lengthy and messy legal ordeal, the Baton Rouge rapper took to Instagram Live to react to the news.
“I think he came out good, bro,” Boosie said while filming himself behind the wheel. “I don’t know how California work. I think he’ll only do five [years] — that’s state time. Shit… in Louisiana, that n-gga woulda did 40, n-gga. A crime on a woman? Highly televised? 40, n-gga. No cap.
“I got 10 for a third offense marijuana, n-gga. Straight to Angola, n-gga. Not even off of rehab. He lucky he wasn’t in Louisiana, boy. I think state time, you only do nothing but half. Five years. He’ll do three years, a lil’ paper, he be back out, stronger than ever … You can’t take his talent away, bro. He’ll be back.”
Boosie reacts to Tory Lanez’s 10-year sentence pic.twitter.com/7wp6Li13US
— SAY CHEESE! 👄🧀 (@SaycheeseDGTL) August 8, 2023
Tory Lanez (real name Daystar Peterson), who in December 2022 was found guilty on all three counts in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting case, was facing a maximum of 22 years behind bars, as well as deportation to his native Canada.
Prosecutors had asked Judge David Herriford to sentence him to 13 years, while Tory’s lawyers sought the lower term of three years.
His legal team had also requested probation and enrollment into a drug treatment program, claiming the rapper was suffering from alcoholism — which they said stemmed from childhood trauma — at the time of the alleged crime.
According to Law&Crime reporter Meghann Cuniff, Tory spoke for several minutes during his two-day sentencing hearing, saying he “still cares dearly” for Megan Thee Stallion and they had bonded over the loss of their mothers.
He also expressed regret for saying “some very immature things that I shouldn’t have said. I revealed some secrets I shouldn’t have revealed” prior to the shooting.
His defense attorney, Jose Baez, referenced Lanez’s race multiple times, lamenting the prospect of sending “another Black man” to jail. But Judge Herriford, who is also Black, clarified that “the ethnicity of the parties” played no part in his 10-year sentencing decision.
Herriford said he considered Lanez’s actions after the shooting, which included social media posts and musical releases aimed at Megan, as a major aggravating factor.
Although Boosie Badazz predicts that Tory will spend just three to five years behind bars, the Los Angeles Times‘ James Queally speculates that he’ll do closer to eight with time served.
The “Wipe Me Down” hitmaker had previously remained shtum on the case due to his affinity for both Tory and Megan. But after the former was found guilty last year, he admitted he wasn’t surprised by the jury’s verdict — but not necessarily because he believed Megan’s allegations.
“I knew he would be found guilty,” he said in an interview with VladTV. “You never saw a man and a woman go through something and that man wins. Never. Johnny Depp won. He got that money out that bitch, she went too far.
“But domestic violence? I’ve never seen nobody win in court when it’s a woman against a man. Mike Tyson, 2Pac — it goes on. Bro, I didn’t wanna say this, but I never seen when something like that happens, that a man comes out victorious on a woman. And I been wanting to say this four interviews ago.”