Photo: Instagram / Lake Havasu City Police Department
Is 11 years too long? Or not long enough?
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on Apr 19, 2022
This Monday, one of three drug dealers that were charged in connection with the death of Mac Miller back in September 2018 was sentenced to nearly 11 years in prison.
39-year-old Ryan Michael Reavis was the middle man who provided the counterfeit oxycodone pills to a fellow dealer, which were then sold to and killed Miller.
Although many people, including Miller’s mother, Karen Meyers, who was at the courthouse, see this as a win and justice being served, there are still a loud group of people who find an issue with the sentence and the case altogether.
The sentencing of Mac Miller's drug dealer has caused a debate on who’s really to blame for drug-related deaths.
It seemed like the moment the news hit the sites, everyone got up in arms about their disagreement with the sentencing.
People labeled Reavis as the “scapegoat” or just “someone to blame,” seemingly implying that he was an innocent man in the wake of Miller’s death.
The final sentence of 10 years and 11 months was more than the probation officials recommended, but less than the 12.5 that the prosecutors fought for.
“Not even the dealer, just the middle man. This helps no one,” said one person on Reddit, but this isn’t true.
Reavis was the supplier. He received the drugs from Stephen Walter, who has yet to be sentenced, and gave them to Cameron Pettit, who also awaits sentencing.
Although Reavis claims that he didn’t know the pills were laced, many don’t believe that this is true, and even if it is, he’s still guilty for supplying drugs that he knows could be potentially dangerous.
You don’t get involved in the business without fully understanding the risks that you’re taking or placing on other people.
Many people believe that Mac Miller knew what he was getting himself into, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
According to the text exchange between the deceased rapper and Pettit, he believed that he would be buying Percocet, not fentanyl, and had he known that he was getting fentanyl it might have been a totally different situation.
While many believed that Miller was a drug addict, that doesn’t excuse the drug dealers from holding any blame, nor does it mean that he would have taken the drug knowing it was fentanyl.
“The dealer/runner/supplier should have to pay their dues, but it's a dangerous game to pretend that Mac was innocent and robbed of anything,” said someone else on Reddit.
Similar to how you don’t get involved in the business side without knowing the risks, you don’t get into doing drugs without knowing the risks either.
Drug addiction isn’t black and white — there’s no simple way of stopping or completely avoiding drugs at all, every situation is different.
Unfortunately, Miller didn’t make it out on the other side, but it doesn’t seem like those involved will either.
This is where Mac Miller’s celebrity status gets brought up.
Although people share their sympathies and kind words for the deceased, they bring up the point that this sentencing was only given because the person who died was a famous rapper.
“Wish they pursued every [fentanyl] death this way. Been to 12 funerals in 2 years. Everyone else just calls it an OD. But when it’s a celebrity they actually do their job,” wrote one Twitter user.
Calls into the void that the system is broken and that no one really cares unless it’s someone famous — and they’re right.
Miller was a celebrity, and this case likely would have never seen the light of day had it been a regular civilian.
That being said, it still took nearly four years to get a conviction for only one of the three dealers involved, and the length is arguably too short.
Yes, this goes to show that the system is broken, but justice is still being served to Miller and his family.
Meyers gave her heartfelt statement on Monday before Reavis’s sentencing.
“My life went dark the moment Malcolm left his 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 said.
She said that her son, whose real name was Malcolm James McCormick, had a laugh that was “infectious and bright,” that their love for each other was “unparalleled,” and that his music and voice “spoke to many people all over the world.”
Reavis also spoke in court on Monday, before he was given the nearly 11-year jail sentence.
“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 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.”
Perhaps the best take on the subject would be the legalization of all drugs so these things could be regulated and overdoses would be much less likely, but that’s a different conversation altogether.
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Follow him on Twitter here.