Drug dealer accepts plea deal in Mac Miller death

Mac Miller had just released a new album when he died of an overdose in 2018

One of the three men charged in connection with rapper Mac Miller's fatal overdose has agreed to plea guilty and accept a 17-year prison sentence.

Stephen Walter will plead guilty to his part in supplying the star with fentanyl, a potent painkiller said to be 50 times more potent than heroin.

Miller died in 2018 after snorting the painkiller, investigators said.

His death was ruled an accidental overdose, from a combination of fentanyl, alcohol and cocaine.

The rapper, who was open about his struggles with addiction, was last seen alive by his assistant at about 22:30 on 6 September, 2018.

The same assistant found him dead in his bedroom the following morning. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

According to the plea deal filed in Los Angeles, Walter, 48, did not directly supply the pills to Miller.

However, he "knowingly and intentionally" directed a second man to distribute fentanyl in the form of counterfeit oxycodone pills to Miller's dealer, Cameron James Pettit.

Walter "knew that the pills... contained fentanyl or some other federally controlled substance," it adds.

Miller had been the long-term boyfriend of pop star Ariana Grande

All three men were arrested and charged in connection with Miller's death, and a trial was scheduled to begin on 16 November.

If Walter's plea deal is accepted, he will avoid that trial - which involved more serious charges including fentanyl distribution resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance resulting in death.

Instead, he will spend 17 years in prison, with an additional three years of supervised release, according to court documents seen by the BBC.

"The new charge takes out the death allegation," Walter's lawyer William S. Harris told Rolling Stone.

"It's a binding plea agreement for 17 years [in prison]. The judge will either accept or reject it. If he accepts it, there will be no power to sentence my client to more. If he rejects it, there's no deal."

Walter is due to appear in court on 8 November to change his plea, if the deal is accepted.

In a written statement attached to the plea deal, he wrote: "No-one has threatened or forced me in any way to enter this agreement.

"I am pleading guilty because I am guilty of the charge and wish to take advantage of the promises set forth in this agreement, and not for any other reason."

Petit, who supplied the pills to Miller, has reportedly reached a separate deal, which has been sealed by the court. The third defendant, Ryan Reavis, is due to stand trial next year.

Miller, whose real name was Malcolm James McCormick, was 26 years old at the time of his death.

He had recently released an album, Swimming, which discussed his struggles with mental health and addiction, as well as his break-up with pop star Ariana Grande.

The album made the top three in the US, and he was due to go on tour before he died.

The star's acclaimed 2014 mixtape Faces was given an official re-release last week and is currently the biggest-selling album in the US.