A Texas jury found former Los Angeles Angels’ communications director Eric Kay guilty of causing the death of Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs on Thursday.
Kay was on trial in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, on charges of drug distribution and drug conspiracy, and he was convicted on both counts.
Kay, 47, faces a minimum 20-year sentence and $1 million fine. Sentencing is set for June 28. He was taken into custody after the verdict was read.
The jury took less than three hours to reach its verdict.
Skaggs was found dead in a Texas hotel room on July 1, 2019, as the Angels were in the area to play the Texas Rangers. Skaggs was 27.
The autopsy revealed Skaggs died of asphyxia and had oxycodone, fentanyl and alcohol in his system. The jury found Kay guilty of distributing fentanyl and oxycodone, and providing Skaggs the fentanyl that resulted in his death.
The government argued successfully that Skaggs would not have died but for the fentanyl that was in the counterfeit oxycodone pills Kay gave to Skaggs in Texas.
“We are very grateful to the government and the jury for seeing this important case through to the right verdict,” the Skaggs family said via a statement released by their attorneys. “Tyler was the light of our family. He is gone, and nothing can ever bring him back. We are relieved that justice was served, although today is a painful reminder of the worst day in the life of our family.”
Angels team president John Carpino also released a statement Thursday afternoon.
“On behalf of the entire Angels Organization, we are saddened by the devastating heartache that surrounds this tragedy, especially for the Skaggs family. Our compassion goes out to all families and individuals that have been impacted,” Carpino said.
“The players’ testimony was incredibly difficult for our organization to hear, and it is a reminder that too often drug use and addiction are hidden away. From the moment we learned of Tyler’s death, our focus has been to fully understand the circumstances that led to this tragedy.
“We are thankful that Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association have taken the important step to update their drug policies for players using opioids so that they can receive help.”
Kay’s attorneys were not happy with the outcome.
“We’re obviously disappointed in the verdict. We thought there were many reasons to doubt the government’s case,'‘ Reagan Wynn, one of Kay’s attorneys, said outside the courthouse. ”This is a tragedy all the way around. Eric Kay is getting ready to do minimum 20 years in a federal penitentiary and it goes up from there. And Tyler Skaggs is gone.’’
