Man Dealing Fentanyl Pills That Killed Rapper Mac Miller to Plead Guilty to Drug Distribution
The man accused of selling the counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills that killed rapper Mac Miller has agreed to plead guilty to distributing fentanyl, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
Fentanyl Distributor Pleads Guilty in Connection to the Death of Mac Miller
According to CBS News, the 38-year-old, Ryan Reavis, was one of several individuals that were charged with the overdose death of Miller three years ago.
Based on the report from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Central District of California, former West Los Angeles resident Reavis pleaded to a single-count superseding information charging him with the distribution of fentanyl.
The accused distributor moved to Arizona in 2019. Officials said that Reavis distributed counterfeit oxycodone pills to co-defendant 30-year-old man Cameron James Pettit, who was a resident of West Hollywood on September 4, 2018.
Also, the Department of Justice stated that Reavis admitted that he knew that the pills contained fentanyl or some other controlled substance.
After Reavis supplied the 30-year-old man from West Hollywood with the fentanyl-laced pills, Pettit gave them to the 26-year-old rapper Mac Miller, whose real name was Malcolm James McCormick.
The then 26-year-old rapper, Mac Miller, got the pills about two days before he suffered the fatal drug overdose on September 7, 2018.
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Mac Miller's Overdose Death
Based on the L.A. County coroner's report at the time, Miller died from an accidental overdose. Authorities pointed it out to a combination of alcohol and drugs, including fentanyl.
The rapper was discovered by his personal assistant unresponsive on his bed in his Studio City home. Mac Miller was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
Reavis allegedly distributed the counterfeit pills to Pettit at the direction of co-defendant 48-year-old Stephen Andrew Walter, a resident of Westwood. Walter last month agreed to plead guilty to one count of distribution of fentanyl.
Both Walter and Reavis were expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks before a U.S. district judge in Los Angeles. On the other hand, the Department of Justice said that the case against Pettit is still pending.
Reavis could face a prison time of up to 20 years, as well as a $1 million fine.
Furthermore, Mac Miller made a name for himself in the independent rap scene in 2010. Miller signed with Warner Records in 2014 after two of his albums hit the charts. Just before his death, Miller released his fifth studio album and was preparing to tour.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration released a report warning the public about the harmful effect of fentanyl. The agency said that fentanyl is considered a synthetic opioid estimated to be 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.
The agency added that just 2 milligrams of fentanyl could be lethal, depending on a person's body size, tolerance, and past use.
Synthetic opioids like fentanyl are the primary driver of overdose deaths in the country, based on the report of the CDC.
The number of overdose deaths that involved synthetic opioids, mainly illicitly manufactured fentanyl climbed to 55.6% between 2020 and 2021.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Jess Smith
WATCH: Man to plead guilty to distributing fentanyl in overdose death of Mac Miller - KTLA 5
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