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Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, Tyler Skaggs, passed away in 2019 from choking on his own vomit from a lethal mix of alcohol, fentanyl and oxycodone in his system. Eric Kay, a Los Angeles employee, was found guilty of providing Skaggs with these the drugs that led to his overdose.[1] Today, U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means sentenced Kay to 22 years in federal prison.[2]
This sentence is higher than the minimum sentence of 20 years. The reason for the sentence being greater than the minimum of 20 years was due to insulting comments Kay made about Skaggs, Skaggs’ family and the jury that convicted him and recordings of Kay speaking to his mother about them were played in the courthouse.[3] The recordings revealed he stated, “I hope people realize what a piece of shit he is . . . Well he’s dead. So fuck him,” and regarding Skaggs’ family he stated, “All they see are dollar signs . . . They may get more money with him dead than he was playing because he sucked.”[4] He also said the jurors who convicted him were “fat, sloppy, toothless and unemployed.”[5]
Kay attempted to point fingers, but five Angels’ players testified against him that they also acquired drugs from him at various times from 2017-2019. According to other testimony and court documents, Kay also partook in the use of these drugs. [6] It was clear after the ruling in early February that Kay was guilty and he was distributing drugs to Angels’ players. He would have likely gotten the 20 year minimum sentence if he had not spoken out against the late Tyler Skaggs, Skaggs’ family and the jury that convicted him. Two years may not seem like much, but Kay will look back on his malicious statements as extremely costly when he is toward the end of his sentence and has to serve out the last two years.
[1] https://ublawsportsforum.com/2022/02/17/the-aftermath-of-the-eric-kay-guilty-verdict/
[2] https://www.courthousenews.com/ex-angels-staffer-sentenced-to-22-years-in-overdose-death-of-pitcher-tyler-skaggs/#:~:text=FORT%20WORTH%2C%20Texas%20(CN),Skaggs%20during%20a%20road%20trip.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/34777036/ex-angels-employee-gets-22-years-death-tyler-skaggs
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