A Los Angeles man charged in the 2018 overdose death of rapper Mac Miller has agreed to plead guilty in a deal that could send him to prison for 17 years, according to court documents.
Stephen Andrew Walter was one of three men indicted in 2019 in the death of Miller, who died of a fentanyl overdose the year before.
He agreed to plead guilty to one count of distribution of fentanyl in a plea agreement with prosecutors filed this week. Both sides agreed on a sentence of 17 years in prison, according to the document. A change of plea hearing is scheduled for Nov. 8.
Miller, whose real name was Malcolm McCormick, died at 26 after being found unresponsive at his Studio City home on Sept. 7, 2018. His death was ruled an accidental overdose of cocaine, alcohol and fentanyl.
Walter admitted in the plea agreement that he “directed” another man, Ryan Michael Reavis, to distribute counterfeit oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl to Cameron James Pettit.
Pettit then allegedly gave the pills to Miller. Pettit and Reavis are the other two people charged.
Walter’s plea agreement says that Miller, identified in that document as M.M., “would not have died from an overdose but for the fentanyl contained in the pills.”
Walter’s attorney did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday night.
The attorney, William S. Harris, told Rolling Stone that “it’s a binding plea agreement for 17 years.”
“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 the magazine.
Federal prosecutors have previously said that Pettit agreed to supply Miller with 10 “blues,” meaning pills containing oxycodone, but delivered counterfeit pills that contained fentanyl. Pettit allegedly ordered the pills from Walter, and Reavis allegedly delivered the pills to Pettit.
Pettit and Reavis have both pleaded not guilty.
Reavis’ attorney, Correen Ferrentino, said Wednesday that “Mr. Reavis recognizes the tragic loss of life associated with these charges,” and plans to defend himself at trial in March.
An attorney for Pettit did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday night.
Miller had long rapped about his battles with addiction.
But his career was in an upswing with the release of his fifth album, “Swimming,” and a tour was scheduled to kick off in October of that year.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
