Stephen Walter, the man who supplied the drugs that caused Mac Miller’s 2018 overdose has pled guilty to a charge of distribution of fentanyl, according to TMZ. Walter accepted a plea deal allowing him to avoid a charge of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, which would have added to the penalty. Walter was accused of giving Percocet pills cut with fentanyl to Mac’s alleged dealer, Cameron James Pettit, which Pettit then gave to Mac, causing him to overdose (fentanyl is several times more potent than oxycodone, making it easier to overdose from a much smaller amount).
The maximum penalty for illegal distribution of fentanyl is more than 20 years in prison, although TMZ notes that prosecutors have only recommended 17 years with five years of supervised release. Walter was fully aware that the pills he sold Pettit were counterfeit and contained fentanyl, according to prosecutors, which explains the recommendation, and he was already on supervised release from a prior conviction. Pettit, Walter, and a third man, Ryan Reavis (who acted as a go-between for the other two), were all scheduled for a hearing on November 16 to face conspiracy charges; by pleading out, Walter avoids the conspiracy charges the other two will be tried on.