A Hollywood man has been arrested for allegedly selling Mac Miller fentanyl-laced pills just days before the rapper’s fatal drug overdose last year, federal prosecutors said.
Cameron James Pettit, 28, was arrested and charged Wednesday with one count of distribution of a controlled substance for allegedly providing Miller with counterfeit oxycodone pills on Sept. 5, 2018, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Pettit was ordered held without bond Wednesday after waiving his right to a preliminary hearing in an initial court appearance, prosecutors said.
The pills, authorities allege, contained lethal amounts of fentanyl, which is 50 times more potent than heroin.
Miller, 26, was discovered unresponsive in his Studio City home two days after buying the pills, prosecutors said. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner determined he’d had an accidental overdose on alcohol, cocaine, and fentanyl, authorities said.
“Fentanyl disguised as a genuine pharmaceutical is a killer—which is being proven every day in America,” United States Attorney Nick Hanna said in a press release announcing the charges, which were first reported by NBC News. “Drugs laced with cheap and potent fentanyl are increasingly common, and we owe it to the victims and their families to aggressively target the drug dealers that cause these overdose deaths.”
In a 42-page criminal complaint filed Friday in the Central District of California, prosecutors allege Pettit delivered the rapper, whose real name was Malcolm James McCormick, 10 “30 milligram oxycodone pills, as well as cocaine and the sedative Xanax” early in the morning after the rapper texted asking for “percs,” or percocet, a prescribed painkiller which contains oxycodone.
Prosecutors allege that Pettit had supplied the rapper with drugs multiple times in the past and the two often texted about plans to drop off various drugs and to settle payment plans.
But instead of providing Miller with genuine oxycodone when he made the delivery around 2:25 a.m., Pettit allegedly sold McCormick fake pills that contained fentanyl.
“While another alleged drug dealer allegedly supplied McCormick with other drugs prior to his death… investigators believe that McCormick died after snorting the counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and that those pills had been provided by Pettit,” prosecutors said.
When Miller was discovered on Sept. 7, investigators recovered a plastic bag containing pills that were allegedly supplied by Pettit and a prostitute, the complaint states. Hours after reports of Miller’s death, Pettit direct messaged a friend on Instagram about the death and his possible involvement.
“I think I should probably not post anything… just to be smart,” Pettit allegedly messaged one friend.
When asked by another friend via Instagram message how he was doing, Petit allegedly wrote: “I am not great... Most likely I will die in jail.”
“I’m gonna get off the grid,” he added.
An arraignment is set for Oct. 11 at 11:00 a.m.. If convicted, Pettit faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.