[UPDATE 11/11/21]: A second man charged in connection with supplying the fentanyl-laced drugs that caused the death of Mac Miller in 2018 has reached a deal to enter a guilty plea. Ryan Michael Reavis, who previously pleaded not guilty, has now agreed to plead guilty to distribution of fentanyl, Rolling Stone reports.
Revis, a 38-year-old resident of Lake Havasu, AZ (and formerly West Hollywood, CA), was previously accused of receiving counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl from Stephen Walter and supplying them to another man—Cameron James Pettit—who in turn sold them to Miller. Walter last month agreed to enter in a guilty plea in exchange for a 17-year prison sentence. Pettit is reported to have also reached a plea agreement for his role in the distribution of the drugs that killed the rapper born Malcolm James McCormick on September 7th, 2018, but the United States Attorney’s Office still lists that case as “pending.”
Read Ryan Reavis’ plea agreement below.
On or about the September 4, 2018, in Los Angeles, California, within the Central District of California, at the direction of codefendant Stephen Andrew Walter, [Ryan Michael Reavis] knowingly distributed a controlled substance in the form of counterfeit oxycodone pills to Cameron James Pettit. [Reavis] knew that these pills that defendant provided to Pettit contained fentanyl or some other federally controlled substance; in fact, the pills contained fentanyl.
Shortly after [Reavis] distributed the pills to Pettit, Pettit distributed the pills containing fentanyl to [Mac Miller]. M.M. ingested the fentanyl supplied by Pettit, which, in combination with cocaine and alcohol, caused M.M.’s death from a fatal overdose on or about September 7, 2018. M.M. would not have died from an overdose but for the fentanyl contained in the pills that M.M. had received from Pettit (and that Pettit had received from [Reavis]) on September 4, 2018.
[10/27/21]: Stephen Walter, one of the three men charged in connection with the death of hip-hop artist Mac Miller, has agreed to a plea deal that would see him admit guilt to fentanyl distribution. The rapper, whose legal name is Malcolm James McCormick, died of an accidental overdose caused by mixed drug toxicity back on September 7th, 2018.
In agreeing to the deal, the 48-year-old Walter would see his grand jury indictment waived and would only face a single charge of fentanyl distribution. His original grand jury indictment included charges of fentanyl distribution resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance resulting in death.
If the judge allows the plea deal, Walter could face over 20 years in prison, a lifetime supervised release, and a $1 million fine. Prosecutors, however, have recommended a 17-year sentence and 5 years of supervised release, according to TMZ.
“The new charge takes out the death allegation,” Walter’s lawyer William S. Harris told Rolling Stone. “It’s a binding plea agreement for 17 years [in prison]. The judge will either accept or reject it. If he accepts it, there will be no power to sentence my client to more. If he rejects it, there’s no deal.”
In agreeing to this plea deal, Walter admits fault for knowingly directing an associate, Ryan Michael Reavis, to deliver fentanyl to another defendant in the case, Cameron James Pettit, who then gave the pills to Miller.
Pettit reached a plea agreement of his own, the contents of which have been sealed according to Rolling Stone. Reavis, the third and final defendant, has not reached a plea agreement and will start trial beginning on March 1st.
The death of Mac Miller hit the hip-hop world hard. The news came just over a month after the release of 2018’s Swimming, an album that solidified his status as one of the industry’s brightest talents. A friend and close associate of Miller found him unresponsive in his home around 12:00 p.m. on September 7th. Officials reported him dead at the scene upon arriving. Investigators concluded that Miller died of an overdose after snorting fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills supplied directly or indirectly by the three co-defendants.
Since then, the Mac Miller estate has released a posthumous album, Circles. Miller’s acclaimed 2014 mixtape, Faces, was also released as an official album for the first time in 2021.