A judge sentenced a former employee with the Los Angeles Angels to 22 years in prison Tuesday for supplying drugs to pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who later overdosed.
Eric Kay was convicted for providing drugs to Skaggs that caused him to overdose in a Dallas hotel room before an Angeles game against the Texas Rangers on July 1, 2019, according to ESPN. Officials found a mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone in Skaggs’ system after his overdose.
Former Angels employee Eric Kay was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison Tuesday for providing pitcher Tyler Skaggs the drugs that led to his overdose death in Texas. https://t.co/YZKIw4lABB
— ESPN (@espn) October 11, 2022
Kay was given two extra years in prison for comments made about the Skaggs family while he was in jail, ESPN reported.
“All they see are dollar signs. They may get more money with him dead than [when] he was playing because he sucked,” Kay said, reported ESPN.
“That’s disgusting,” Kay said about his prior comments. “I don’t know why I said that. I was mad at the world.”
Five different major league players testified at Kay’s trial that they had obtained oxycodone pills from Kay at some point between 2017 and 2019, ESPN reported. (RELATED: Angels Employee Reportedly Tells DEA He Provided Tyler Skaggs With Oxycodone)
“We are very grateful to everyone who worked so hard to investigate and prosecute Eric Kay,” the Skaggs family said, ESPN. “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.”
Kay worked as the Angels’ public relations representative for many away games, according to ESPN. The trip to Texas where Skaggs died was Kay’s first trip with the team after Kay returned from rehab.