DELANO, CALIFORNIA: Canadian rapper Tory Lanez (real name Daystar Shemual Peterson) was given a 10-year prison sentence last month for shooting Megan Thee Stallion, and is currently being incarcerated at North Kern State Prison in Delano, California, as reported by TMZ.
Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Jovon Ruth Pete, testified that Lanez shot at the bottoms of her feet and yelled at her to dance; as a result, she required surgery to remove bullet fragments.
Lanez was found guilty of negligent firearm discharge, assault with a firearm, and carrying an unlicensed, loaded gun.
As per NBC News, days prior to his transfer, Lanez had unsuccessfully appealed his conviction and sought release.
The nonprofit organization Unite the People, which is defending Lanez in his appeal, issued a statement in which it said, "The denial of the appeal bond is undoubtedly disappointing, but it does not deter us from our mission."
In an Instagram post that he later published, Lanez claimed that he was only taking "responsibility for all verbal and intimate moments that I shared with the parties involved ... That’s it."
Prior to getting his sentence, Lanez had expressed regret for his behavior and claimed full responsibility for the shooting incident.
Lanez is now securely inside North Kern State Prison, incarcerated at the facility where he will probably spend the next ten years.
With overcrowding, poor sanitation, and escalating tensions between inmates the prison is no stroll in the park, as several murders have taken place there this year.
What level of prison is North Kern State?
More than 4,000 inmates are housed at North Kern State Prison in Delano, California, which recently came under national scrutiny following a brutal crime that took place there.
This medium security, male-only state prison lies approximately 180 miles north of Los Angeles. The Kern Valley State Prison is also roughly four miles away.
It currently has roughly 4,890 prisoners, which is significantly more than its 2,800 limit. The prison's structure is a precise duplicate of Wasco State Prison.
Multiple murders have taken place in North Kern State prison
The medium security facility was built in 1993 and is mostly used to process inmates before sending them elsewhere.
However, there have been rumors that Lanez would spend the rest of his sentence at the prison, which has already experienced several inmate fatalities this year.
According to reports, Ramon Escobar, a convicted Salvadorian serial killer, has now been charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing his cellmate Juan Villanueva, 53, back in February.
Villanueva was found dead in his cell after being imprisoned for aggravated sexual abuse of a child. Escobar was later charged with first-degree murder.
Twenty five-year-old Ricardo Saldivar was discovered dead at the facility in July, and homicide was being looked at in his death, per officials.
Along with the recent fatalities, North Kern has experienced an array of significant occurrences throughout the years, including escapes, armed guard attacks, and fighting among convicts.
North Kern State prison has seen violent inmates
In the prison, there have been persistent race and gang conflicts, with the two dominant gangs, the Sureos and Paisas, serving as a constant source of violence.
Abelardo Morales, a prisoner from Riverside County, was reported missing from the medium security wing of the facility in 2015.
A former prisoner and serial sexual offender was found guilty in connection with the assault on two correctional guards in 2020, per Daily Mail.
The same year, a guard was struck by gunfire while walking across the yard, and a bullet pierced his stab-resistant vest.
He was taken to the hospital right away, although his wounds were not serious. It is believed that the penitentiary was not the source of the gunfire.
Lanez will be allowed to take part in prison labor like all other offenders, with skilled and unskilled tasks at North Kern paying as low as $0.08 and $0.30 per hour.
The facility may be a minor improvement for Lanez, who started his term at the infamous LA Men's Central jail, an unsafe and overcrowded institution where he was kept alone for 22 hours every day.
