Arraignment Due for Westwood Man Charged in Death of Rapper Mac Miller
Arraignment Due for Westwood Man Charged in Death of Rapper Mac Miller
by Contributing Editor
The last of three men facing federal charges of providing counterfeit drugs containing fentanyl to Mac Miller prior to the hip-hop performer’s overdose death is expected to plead not guilty Thursday in downtown Los Angeles.
Stephen Andrew “Stevie” Walter, 46, of Westwood faces charges of conspiring to distribute controlled substances resulting in death, distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and being a felon in possession of ammunition.
Prosecutors allege that Walter — plus Ryan Michael Reavis and Cameron James Pettit — distributed narcotics to 26-year-old Malcolm James McCormick — who recorded and performed under the name Mac Miller — two days before the performer suffered a fatal overdose in Studio City on Sept. 7, 2018.
The indictment alleges that Pettit ordered the fentanyl-laced pills from Walter, and Reavis delivered the narcotics to Pettit, who sold the drugs to Miller.
Reavis, 36, Lake Havasu, Arizona, and Pettit, 28, of West Hollywood, previously pleaded not guilty before a magistrate judge in Los Angeles federal court.
According to communications detailed in court papers, late on the night of Sept. 4, 2018, Pettit agreed to supply Miller with 30-milligram oxycodone pills, as well as cocaine and the sedative Xanax. But, instead of providing the rapper with genuine oxycodone when he made the delivery, Pettit allegedly sold Miller counterfeit oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin.
Two days after Pettit allegedly supplied Miller with the fentanyl-laced pills, the rapper died at his home. An affidavit alleges that hours after news outlets reported Miller’s death, Pettit sent a message to a friend saying, “Most likely I will die in jail.”
Investigators believe that Miller died after snorting the counterfeit oxycodone pills that had been provided by Pettit, according to the affidavit. While another person allegedly supplied Miller with other drugs prior to his death, according to the affidavit those pills did not contain fentanyl.
Weeks after Miller’s death, Walter agreed to sell Pettit 10 “blues” — a street name for the painkiller Percocet, according to the indictment, which also alleges other drug deals between the two men, one as recently as two months ago.
U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna alleged that the three defendants continued to sell narcotics after Miller’s death, “with full knowledge of the risks their products posed to human life.”
Miller began rapping at 14 and built a large following before signing with the label of fellow Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa. Miller released five studio albums and a series of mixtapes during his career. His final album, “Swimming,” was released on Warner Bros. Records just a month before his death.
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All credit goes to Contributing Editor
Originally published on https://mynewsla.com
