FORT WORTH, Texas — A Texas jury on Thursday convicted a former Los Angeles Angels employee of providing pitcher Tyler Skaggs drugs that led to his death in 2019.
Eric Kay, 47, a former communications director for the Angels, was convicted by a 12-person jury in a Fort Worth federal court of distributing fentanyl and oxycodone, and providing Skaggs the fentanyl that resulted in him fatally choking on his vomit in a suburban Dallas hotel room, the Los Angeles Times reported.
A 10-woman, two-man jury revealed the verdict after deliberating for no more than three hours after an eight-day trial, The Associated Press reported.
Breaking: Eric Kay has been convicted on drug charges related to Tyler Skaggs’ death. https://t.co/572wEqFGmO
— Fort Worth Star-Telegram (@startelegram) February 17, 2022
Kay faces a minimum 20-year sentence and a $1 million fine, according to the Times.
Skaggs, 27, was found dead at the Hilton Southlake/Dallas Town Square just after 2 p.m. CDT on July 1, 2019, the Star-Telegram of Fort Worth reported. The Angels had flown to Texas from the Long Beach Airport the previous night to begin a series in Arlington against the Rangers that day.
An autopsy report concluded Skaggs had fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol in his system, the Times reported. Prosecutors argued that Skaggs would not have died “but for” the fentanyl, which they claimed came from counterfeit oxycodone pills Kay provided to Skaggs in Texas.
Pitchers Matt Harvey, Mike Morin and Cam Bedrosian and first baseman C.J. Cron took the stand Tuesday and described the recreational drug use allegedly going on around the Angels three years ago when they played for the team, according to the AP. The trio testified that they were supplied with oxycontin by Kay, MLive.com reported.
Kay was placed on leave shortly after Skaggs’ death and never returned to the Angels. He did not testify during the trial, the AP reported.
Michael Molfetta, Kay’s attorney, declined to comment after the verdict, according to the AP.
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