Drug Dealer Involved in Mac Miller's OD Death Accepts Plea Deal

Written by Deja Goode

Mauricio Santana / Getty Images

Stephen Walter, one of the three men charged in connection to Mac Miller's death from an overdose, accepted a plea deal with a 17-year prison sentence.

Walter will plead guilty to being involved in supplying Miller with fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills in 2018. Fentanyl is said to be 50 times more potent than heroin. The deal will waive his grand jury indictment and allow him to plead to one charge of fentanyl distribution.

William S. Harris, Walter's lawyer, said the charge removed the death allegation. "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," Harris told Rolling Stone.

Walter was previously indicted on serious charges including fentanyl distribution resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance resulting in death which has a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine as a penalty.

Miller's death was ruled an accidental overdose from a combination of fentanyl, cocaine, and alcohol in 2018. The rapper was very transparent about his drug addiction and the efforts to try and overcome it.

The rapper was last seen by his assistant the night before his death and was also found by the assistant the following morning. Miller was only 26 when he was pronounced dead at the scene of his Los Angeles home on Sept. 7, 2018, by paramedics.

According to the indictment, Walter did not directly supply Miller with the laced pills, but he "knowingly and intentionally" distributed fentanyl in the form of counterfeit oxycodone pills to Miller's dealer, Cameron James Pettit, despite it containing other controlled substances.

Walter wrote in a written statement for the plea deal, "I am pleading guilty because I am guilty of the charge and wish to take advantage of the promises set forth in this agreement, and not for any other reason."

He is set to appear in court on Nov. 8.

Petit has reportedly reached a private deal that is sealed from the public by the court. Ryan Reavis, the third man involved in the case will stand trial next year for his charges.

The growing fentanyl epidemic has only become worse over time. According to a data overview from the CDC, synthetic opioid deaths (fentanyl) have increased over six times since 1999 in the United States. The crisis only continues to grow as the overdose death involving synthetic opioids has reached an all-time high.