Drug dealer gets more than 17 years for providing fentanyl-laced pills linked to Mac Miller’s fatal overdose
A drug dealer who supplied the fentanyl-laced pills that contributed to rapper Mac Miller’s accidental drug overdose has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison.
Stephen Walter pleaded guilty last October to a federal criminal charge of distribution of fentanyl as part of a deal with federal prosecutors guaranteeing he would spend a flat 17 years behind bars. On Monday, a federal judge rejected the deal as too lenient, specifically citing how 49-year-old Walter continued to peddle his pills and other drugs — even after Miller’s death in 2018 — until he was arrested in 2019.
U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II instead ordered Walter to serve 210 months or 17.5 years in prison, according to Rolling Stone.
“The court has elected not to accept that plea agreement. So, sir, if you want, at this point, you can withdraw your guilty plea and go to trial,” Judge Wright said.
“I may as well lay it out, okay. When you continue to engage in this activity even after your activities killed someone, I’m having a tough time not staying within the guidelines.”
Walter ultimately declined to go to trial and accepted the sentence, making him the second person to get prison time in connection with Miller’s death.
Fellow drug dealer Ryan Reavis was sentenced to nearly 11 years behind bars last month.
Walter was accused of handing over his product to 49-year-old Reavis, who in turn provided them to Cameron Pettit. Walter previously said in court that he was unaware Pettit was going to give the drugs to someone else and believed at the time he wanted them for himself.
Instead, Pettit allegedly sold the fentanyl-laced drugs to Miller, who believed he was purchasing oxycodone at the time.
Two days later, the rapper, who was born Malcolm James McCormick, was found unresponsive at his Los Angeles home.
He was just 26 years old when he died on Sept. 7, 2018. The Los Angeles County Coroner has since confirmed his cause of death was an accidental overdose of fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol.
“My actions caused a lot of pain, and for that I’m truly remorseful,” Walter told the court. “I’m not that type of person who wants to hurt anybody. That’s not me.”
