A former Los Angeles Angels baseball govt was sentenced to 22 years in jail Tuesday after he was convicted of offering fentanyl-laced drugs that contributed to the demise of pitcher Tyler Skaggs.
Eric Kay, 48, was convicted in February of distributing medicine resulting in demise and possession of medicine with intent to distribute in reference to the overdose of Skaggs, who was discovered useless in a Southlake, Texas, resort room on July 1, 2019.
Kay, the previous communications director of the Anaheim, California-based staff for which Skaggs threw, was eligible for a 20-year sentence, however life was additionally a risk, in response to federal prosecutors who introduced their case to U.S. District Court docket in Fort Price.
He was sentenced by U.S. District Decide Terry R. Means.
“We’re very grateful to everybody who labored so exhausting to research and prosecute Eric Kay,” Skaggs’ household stated in a press release. “Immediately’s sentencing is not concerning the variety of years the defendant obtained. The actual concern on this case is holding accountable the people who find themselves distributing the lethal drug fentanyl.”
Cody L. Cofer, Kay’s legal professional, stated the previous Main League Baseball govt will attraction.
“Mr. Kay will instantly file his discover of attraction and proceed to struggle the allegations,” he stated by electronic mail. “This was a tragic circumstance. Our hearts break for Tyler Skaggs’s household.”
Throughout sentencing proceedings, prosecutors introduced jailhouse calls and emails wherein Kay confirmed little regret, mocked the deceased and his household, and even criticized the looks of jurors.
“I hope individuals understand what a chunk of sh– he’s,” prosecutors stated Kay informed his mom about Skaggs in a recorded name. “Properly, he’s useless, so f— ’em.”
Prosecutors allege he additionally known as Skaggs’ household “white trash” and alleged they had been within the risk the pitcher’s demise might create cash making publicity.
“They could get extra money with him useless than he was taking part in as a result of he sucked,” Kay is quoted as saying by prosecutors.
In addition they accused the defendant of describing jurors as chubby and “sloppy, toothless, and unemployed.”
Authorities stated Kay’s telephone revealed that Skaggs had texted him the evening earlier than his demise with a request he drop by his room with drugs.
The staff was within the Dallas-Fort Price area for a four-game sequence with the Texas Rangers, based mostly in close by Arlington.
Prosecutors stated Kay informed a witness he visited Skaggs that evening. They stated the chief dealt drugs, together with the “blue boys” that contributed to Skaggs’ demise, to a number of gamers at Angel Stadium.
Among the many former Angels gamers who testified Kay offered drugs had been Matt Harvey, C.J. Cron, Mike Morin, and Cameron Bedrosian.
Within the resort room the place Skaggs was discovered useless, investigators discovered a blue tablet decided to have been laced with the potent and sometimes lethal artificial opioid fentanyl, the workplace of the U.S. Legal professional for the Northern District of Texas has stated.
The tablet contained the stamping of the “blue boys” identified to different gamers: “M/30.”
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s workplace decided that Mr. Skaggs had a combination of ethanol, fentanyl, and oxycodone in his system on the time of his demise. The workplace stated he choked to demise on his vomit following an overdose.
The workplace’s conclusion included a dedication that, “however for the fentanyl, Mr. Skaggs wouldn’t have died,” the U.S. Legal professional’s workplace stated in 2020.
“One fentanyl tablet can kill,” the U.S. Legal professional for the Northern District of Texas, Chad E. Meacham, stated in a press release. “That’s why our workplace is dedicated to holding to account anybody who offers in illicit opioids, whether or not they function in again alleyways or world class stadiums.”
He added, “Mr. Skaggs didn’t should die this fashion. Nobody does.”
