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3 charged with providing drugs that killed rapper Mac Miller

LOS ANGELES — Three men arrested during the investigation into rapper Mac Miller’s deadly overdose last year have now been charged with providing the drugs that killed him, U.S. prosecutors said Wednesday.

A grand jury indictment that was unsealed in Los Angeles accuses the men of conspiring and distributing cocaine and oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl that caused Miller’s death in September 2018.

Cameron Pettit, 28, of West Hollywood, California; Stephen Walter, 46, of Los Angeles; and Ryan Reavis, 36, of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, were previously charged with drug-related offenses. Wednesday’s charges add the allegation that their drugs led to Miller’s death.

Miller, 26, died of an accidental overdose of the powerful opioid fentanyl, along with cocaine and alcohol. Fentanyl has contributed to an epidemic of opioid abuse in the U.S. that has claimed thousands of lives, including those of other musicians, such as Prince.

The men face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and the potential for life without parole if convicted of either of the charges related to Miller’s death.

All have been arrested in recent weeks and remain in custody, and none has entered a plea.

Walter’s attorney, William S. Harris, said he was reviewing the indictment and other elements of the case, and could not immediately comment. An attorney for Pettit did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. It’s unclear whether Reavis has a lawyer.

Pettit and Walter, who was also charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition, were scheduled to be arraigned on the new charges on Oct. 10. Reavis, who was arrested last week in Arizona, does not have an arraignment date set yet.

The indictment alleges the men continued to distribute drugs through August 2019.

Miller’s beats and rhymes, with their frank expressions of drug use and depression, made him a beloved and respected figure among fans, including some of the biggest names in hip-hop.

The Pittsburgh native, whose real name was Malcolm James Myers McCormick, was in a two-year relationship with Ariana Grande that ended earlier in 2018.

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