FORT WORTH, Texas — A former Los Angeles Angels employee convicted for providing the drugs that killed pitcher Tyler Skaggs in 2019 was sentenced to 22 years in prison Tuesday.
In February 2022, a Fort Worth jury found 47-year-old Eric Kay guilty of drug distribution and drug conspiracy in connection with Skaggs’ death.
Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his Southlake, Texas hotel room in July 2019 before the start of a series between the Angels and Texas Rangers. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office later determined that Skaggs had a mixture of ethanol, fentanyl and oxycodone in his system at the time of his death.
During the trial against Kay, several MLB players took the stand and testified that they received oxycodone pills, dubbed "blue boys," from him and that he was the only source of the pills, which they said Kay distributed in Angels Stadium.
Prosecutors said Kay provided the drugs to Skaggs – leading to the pitcher’s overdose.
Kay, who had been thought would take the stand, did not testify on his behalf.
Following Kay guilty verdict, Los Angeles Angels president John Carpino said that the testimony from the players "was incredibly difficult for our organization to hear," and a reminder that "too often drug use and addiction are hidden away."
At Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, prosecutors introduced new evidence, including jailhouse calls and emails concerning Kay’s lack of remorse for Skaggs’ death.
Kay could be heard repeatedly insulting Skaggs. In one call, Kay told his mother, “I hope people realize what a piece of sh*t he is… Well, he’s dead, so f*ck ‘em.”
In the calls, Kay also mocked Skaggs’ family, calling them “dumb” and “white trash” and suggested his mother plant negative stories about them in the media.
“All they see are dollar signs,” Kay said of the Skaggs family. “They may get more money with him dead than he was playing because he sucked.”
Kay evened blasted the Fort Worth jurors who convicted him, calling them “fat, sloppy, toothless and unemployed.”
After Kay was sentenced, the Skaggs' family released the following statement:
“We are very grateful to everyone who worked so hard to investigate and prosecute Eric Kay. Today’s sentencing isn’t about the number of years the defendant received. The real issue in this case is holding accountable the people who are distributing the deadly drug fentanyl. It is killing tens of thousands of people every year in our country and destroying families along with it. We will continue the fight to hold responsible those who allowed Kay to provide a deadly drug to Tyler. But for their actions, Tyler would still be with us today.”