Los Angeles (AFP) - Former Los Angeles Angels communications director Eric Kay was found guilty by a Texas jury on Thursday of two charges connected with the 2019 overdose death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs.
The US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas announced that Kay was convicted on charges of distribution of controlled substances resulting in death and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.
The jury took less than 90 minutes to deliberate before finding that, based on evidence presented in the trial at Fort Worth, Kay distributed the pills that killed Skaggs.
Sentencing was set for June 28 with Kay facing between 20 years and life in prison for distribution of the opioid fentanyl, which was found in the system of Skaggs.
Team security found Skaggs unresponsive in a hotel room in Texas, where the Angels were playing a road series against the Texas Rangers.
Skaggs was found to have died of asphyxiation on his vomit after ingesting fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents determined that Kay had allegedly regularly distributed pills such as one found in Skaggs' room to the late pitcher and others at the stadium where they worked and that Kay had visited Skaggs in his room on the night of his death.
"Unfortunately, this guilty verdict will not bring Mr. Skaggs back or take away the suffering his family and friends have endured since 2019," said Eduardo Chávez, Fort Worth DEA Special Agent in Charge.
"What it does do, however, is affirm that justice prevails and drug dealers and enablers, like Mr. Kay, will be held accountable for their reckless actions."
Several former Angels players, including Matt Harvey, C.J.Cron, Mike Morin, and Cameron Bedrosian testified that Kay distributed pills to them as well and was the only source of such pills.
"This case is a sobering reminder: Fentanyl kills.Anyone who deals fentanyl -- whether on the streets or out of a world-famous baseball stadium -- puts his or her buyers at risk," US Attorney Chad Meacham said.
"A beloved pitcher, Tyler Skaggs, was struck down in the midst of an ascendant career.The Justice Department is proud to hold his dealer accountable for his family and friends' unimaginable loss."
Angels players wore a patch on their jerseys for the remainder of the 2019 Major League Baseball season as a tribute to Skaggs, a left-handed pitcher who died at age 27.
Skaggs made his MLB debut for Arizona in 2012 before being traded to the Angels in December 2013.He was a starter until a July 2014 arm ligament injury and subsequent "Tommy John" tendon replacement surgery.
Skaggs struggled with injuries over parts of his final four MLB campaigns until his death, finishing with a career record of 28-38 with a 4.41 earned-run average and 476 strikeouts.
