Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin. Every year, tens of thousands of people die from it in the United States – including rapper Mac Miller, who was in a relationship with singer Ariana Grande, three and a half years ago. Now one of the dealers has been sentenced to more than ten years in prison.
The emergency vehicle of The Spot, a local aid group, is parked on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on March 31. Activists warn of a rise in recreational drugs laced with the dangerous opioid fentanyl and offer an antidote for overdoses.
(dpa)
Three and a half years after the drug-related death of American rapper Mac Miller, a drug dealer in California has been sentenced to almost eleven years in prison. The 39-year-old man pleaded guilty last year to passing on counterfeit drugs containing the extremely powerful painkiller fentanyl.
He was sentenced to 131 months in prison on Monday, Los Angeles prosecutors said. It is the first verdict in the death involving three dealers and middlemen.
Miller, 26, was found dead at his Los Angeles home in September 2018. According to the autopsy report, he died of an accidental overdose of drugs, medication and alcohol. A few days before his death, he is said to have received painkillers mixed with fentanyl from a dealer. Singer Ariana Grande’s ex-boyfriend found success with songs like “Weekend” and “Cinderella.”
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin. It’s a driver of the opioid crisis in the US, with tens of thousands of deaths a year.