Mac Miller's drug dealer gets long prison sentence for role in rapper's death
Los Angeles, California - An Arizona man involved in supplying counterfeit prescription pills that led to the 2018 overdose death of rapper Mac Miller has been sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison, according to documents filed in federal court on Monday.
Ryan Michael Reavis (39) was sentenced to 10 years and 11 months after he pleaded guilty to one count of distributing fentanyl, according to documents filed in US District Court for the Central District of California.
Reavis is one of three men charged with providing the drugs that caused Miller's death.
The 26-year-old rapper was found at his Studio City home on September 7, 2018. Coroner reports showed he died after accidentally overdosing on a mix of fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol.
In a statement to The Times, Reavis' attorney, Cori Ferrentino, called the case "very tragic and difficult." Reavis was an addict who didn't know the pills he delivered to a codefendant had fentanyl, Ferrentino said.
"Mac Miller was loved and admired by so many," she said. "He fought many of the same demons related to addiction that Mr. Reavis has fought his whole life. It is not lost on Mr. Reavis for one minute that he will be able to return to his family and Mac Miler will not."
The attorney said she and Reavis were disappointed the court believes he should spend more time in custody, "but appreciate the sentence is lower than the government's requested 151 months," or 12 years and seven months.
Ferrentino said her client would use his time to "grow in his recovery" and to honor Miller's life in whatever way he can.
"We strongly believe longer periods of incarceration for the addict/runner will not solve the fentanyl crisis," she said.
"We, as a society, have been down that road in the past and it did not work. Instead, treatment and accountability are part of the answer. Fortunately, Mr. Reavis has already begun down the path of recovery."
Two other persons prosecuted in Miller's death
Reavis is the second person to plead guilty in connection with the death of Miller, whose real name was Malcolm McCormick.
In October, Stephen Walter, a 49-year-old Westwood resident, pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl, federal prosecutors said. He is awaiting sentencing. The case against a third defendant, 30-year-old West Hollywood resident Cameron James Pettit, is pending.
Reavis, who formerly lived in West Hollywood, moved to Lake Havasu, Arizona, in 2019, prosecutors said after his November guilty plea.
According to his plea agreement, Reavis knowingly distributed counterfeit oxycodone pills to Pettit on September 4, 2018, at Walter's direction.
"Reavis admitted in his plea agreement to knowing that the pills contained fentanyl or some other controlled substance," prosecutors said last year.
Miller "would not have died from an overdose but for the fentanyl contained in the pills" that he received from Pettit, and that Pettit had received from Reavis, according to the plea agreement.
The rapper was best known for his hits Donald Trump, Self Care, and Programs. Miller was posthumously nominated for a Grammy for his last album, Swimming, while his music began to incorporate R&B, jazz and funk, with his rapping showing promise for a talent that was just coming into his own.
Miller's music also delved into his struggle with depression and drug abuse.
Cover photo: Screenshot/Instagram/@macmiller