The man who indirectly sold Mac Miller a fatal dose of fentanyl-laced pills is reportedly facing up to 20 years in prison. According to TMZ, Stephen Walter pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of fentanyl as part of a plea deal earlier this month. The conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance was dropped.
Prosecutors are seeking 17 years plus five years supervised probation, noting Walter’s guilty plea proves he was fully aware he was selling counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl. Court documents note the maximum punishment includes over 20 years behind bars, a lifetime of supervision and $1 million fine.
Prosecutors allege Walter — who was already on supervised release stemming from another drug case — indirectly provided the deadly pills to Miller’s dealer, Cameron James Pettit, who then sold them to the late rapper.
Mac Miller was found unresponsive at his San Fernando Valley home on September 7, 2018. Miller was discovered on his bed in a “praying position” by his assistant who described him as already being “blue” during the 911 call. An empty bottle of alcohol was next to him on the nightstand and a bottle of prescription pills was found in the bathroom.
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Police also discovered a rolled up $20 bill with white powdery residue in Miller’s right pocket. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His death followed a DUI arrest the previous July and his breakup with pop singer Ariana Grande, who he’d been dating for nearly two years.
Grande suggested his substance abuse was the reason for their split in a Twitter post.
“I have cared for him and tried to support his sobriety & prayed for his balance for years (and always will of course),” she wrote. “But shaming/blaming women for a man’s inability to keep his shit together is a very major problem.”
Mac Miller's Drug Dealers Get Trial Date - Over 2 Years After His Fatal Overdose
Pettit was initially arrested in September 2019, roughly one year after Miller’s death. Shortly after his arrest, Miller’s father, Mark McCormick, held a vigil for his late son and announced the news to his fans, while issuing a somber warning.
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“So they finally caught the motherfucker who sold the drugs that killed him,” McCormick said in a video clip. “I do find some comfort in that. Many of us were young, including me, experimenting with drugs. But it’s a different fucking world out there.
“All it takes is a little tiny stone of fentanyl in cocaine and you’re dead. Drugs are being laced with fentanyl, all kinds of drugs. The only thing I would say to you is don’t take the risk. It’s just not worth it. It’s just not worth it.”
