On Monday one of the three drug dealers charged with the deadly fentanyl overdose that claimed the life of musician Mac Miller was sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison.
Ryan Michael Reavis appeared in federal court in Los Angeles. The 39-year-old said he was the middle man who had no idea the counterfeit oxycodone pills he provided to a fellow dealer before were laced with fentanyl. Reavis asked for only five years in custody.
Reavis received a final sentence of 10 years and 11 months, which was slightly more than what probation officials recommended but less than the 12 and a half years prosecutors suggested. U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II levied the punishment after prosecutors read a sentimental statement from Mac Miller’s mom, Karen Meyers.
“My life went dark the moment Malcolm left this world. Malcolm was my person, more than a son. We had a bond and kinship that was deep and special and irreplaceable. We spoke nearly every day about everything – his life, plans, music, dreams, ” the statement read.
“He would never knowingly take a pill with fentanyl, ever. He wanted to live and was excited about the future. The hole in my heart will always be there,” the statement continued.
Before reavis was sentenced, he told the court he was unaware the pills provided caused the musicians’ death until he was arrested in Arizona a year later in September 2019.
“This is not just a regular drug case. Somebody died and a family is never going to get their son back. My family would be wrecked if it was me. They’d never be all right, never truly get over it. I think about all 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,” Reavis told the court. “My perspective has changed. My heart has changed,” Reavis continued.