Rap impresario Sean (Puffy) Combs agreed yesterday to pay an undisclosed sum to a woman who was hurt in a deadly stampede during a 1991 charity basketball game he organized at City College.
The settlement with Nicole Levy, 25, ends the last of several lawsuits filed against Combs, rapper Dwight (Heavy D) Myers, and City College in connection with the incident that left nine people dead and 29 injured.
But Combs' attorney Luke Pittoni denied the hip-hop mogul settled because he feared he would lose at trial.
"It remains clear that Nicole Levy's case is without merit," Pittoni said in a statement. "Rather than have protracted litigation, we have come to an acceptable resolution and are very pleased with the outcome."
Levy, personally invited by Combs to attend the charity event in the school's gymnasium, suffers from Graves' disease, a stress- induced thyroid condition she says is linked to the incident. She also claims to have suffered mental trauma from watching her best friend, Sonia Williams, 17, suffocate under the mass of people.
Peter De Filippis, Levy's attorney, said his client was relieved. "We arrived at an amicable settlement, and this way Nicole won't have to wait any longer to be compensated," he said.