The drug dealer who pleaded guilty to distributing fentanyl-laced pills tied to the death of rapper Mac Miller was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison, a judge announced Monday.
Ryan Reavis, 39, pleaded guilty to supplying counterfeit pharmaceutical pills in November after he and two co-conspirators were charged in connection to Miller’s death more than four years ago. Stephen Walter, 49, pleaded guilty in October, while the case against Cameron Pettit, 30, is still pending.
Reavis told federal prosecutors in a plea deal that he knew the pills he was distributing contained fentanyl, a highly addictive drug that can be deadly when combined with other substances. However, before he was sentenced Monday, he told the court he was unaware that the pills caused Miller’s death until he was arrested, maintaining he was just a middleman who got caught.
VIRGINIA MAN SENTENCED AFTER DISGUISING FENTANYL-LACED PILLS AS COMMON PRESCRIPTIONS
Reavis, who had received the drugs from Walter, gave the pills to Pettit, who later distributed them to Miller. The rapper died at the age of 26 two days later from what was determined to be an accidental overdose of alcohol, cocaine, and fentanyl.
“This is not just a regular drug case. Somebody died, and a family is never going to get their son back,” Reavis told the court Monday. “My family would be wrecked if it was me. They’d never be all right, never truly get over it. I think about that all the time. And I know that whatever happens today, I’m the lucky one because my family is here and I’m here, and I’ll be with them again. I feel terrible. This is not who I am.”
The defendant was still selling pills nearly a year after the rapper’s death, according to text messages obtained by Assistant U.S. Attorney Elia Herrera.
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“Defendant knew that people were dying from fake blues left and right. He knew that people were being put away in prison for life for dealing them,” Herrera said. “Defendant was not worried about people dying left and right. He was worried about getting caught.”
Reavis was sentenced to 10 years and 11 months in prison, with an additional three years of supervised release with intermittent drug testing.
