A drug dealer convicted in the fatal fentanyl overdose of Mac Miller has been sentenced.
Stephen Walter, 49, received 17-and-a-half years in federal prison on Monday after pleading guilty to distributing the fentanyl that ultimately resulted in Miller’s death in September 2018, reports Rolling Stone.
Walter had initially agreed to a 17-year sentence after reaching a plea deal with federal prosecutors in October, but the judge rejected his plea agreement as too lenient after he continued to sell counterfeit oxycodone pills following Miller’s death.
“The court has elected not to accept that plea agreement. So, sir, if you want, at this point, you can withdraw your guilty plea and go to trial,” said U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright, II. “I may as well lay it out, okay. When you continue to engage in this activity even after your activities killed someone, I’m having a tough time not staying within the guidelines.”
After prosecutors read a statement from Miller’s mom, the former dog groomer apologized to the rapper’s family but claimed he didn’t know until he was arrested that Miller had died from drugs he supplied.
“My actions caused a lot of pain, and for that I’m truly remorseful. I’m not that type of person who wants to hurt anybody. That’s not me,” Walter told the judge.
His fellow dealer, Ryan Reavis, pleaded guilty in November to a single count of distributing fentanyl and was sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison.
A third dealer, Cameron Pettit, has also been charged with conspiring to distribute controlled substances resulting in death, and distribution of fentanyl resulting in death. He has reportedly reached a plea agreement but it has been sealed.
McCormick was 26 years old when he was discovered unresponsive in his Los Angeles home on Sept. 7, 2018. The Coroner ruled his death as an accidental overdose due to mixed drug toxicity of cocaine, alcohol, and fentanyl.