Rappers Sean "Puffy" Combs and Heavy D have settled civil lawsuits that date to a 1991 incident in which nine people were killed and 29 injured during a stampede at a charity basketball game that the rappers co-sponsored, according to Combs' attorney. Terms of the settlements were not disclosed.

Nicole Levy attended the event at City University of New York and was seeking $2 million in the case. Though she was not injured in the stampede, Levy claimed that one of her friends was among those killed and that the trauma of seeing her friend die of suffocation in the crush caused her to develop Graves' Disease, a thyroid condition brought on by severe stress.

"It remains clear that Nicole Levy's case is without merit," said a statement issued by Combs' attorney Luke Pittoni. "Rather than have a protracted litigation, we have come to an acceptable resolution and are very pleased with the outcome."

Combs and Heavy D, whose real name is Dwight Myers, became targets of civil suits after a judge ruled in 1999 that the rappers and the college were negligent because they sold too many tickets to the event. Though the judge's decision didn't carry any sanctions, he nevertheless ruled that Combs and Myers shared fifty percent of the responsibility for the tragedy.

Court records indicate that around 2,500 fans showed up at the 500-capacity university gym to attend a celebrity basketball game/rap concert. Most were there to hear Heavy D, as Combs was just beginning to develop his rap career at that point. Combs' security team blocked the only entrance to the gym with a table to ensure that everyone who got past had paid.

Jury selection was to have begun in the case earlier this week, but had been postponed.