Former Los Angeles Angels employee Eric Kay has been found guilty of providing drugs to Tyler Skaggs leading to the pitcher's death in July 2019, the Los Angeles Times reports.
A Fort Worth, Texas jury ruled Kay -- who had previously worked as the Angels' communications director at the time of Skaggs' death -- distributed fentanyl and oxycodone dating "beginning or before 2017" and gave Skaggs the fentanyl that led to him choking in his vomit before being found dead in a hotel room.
Kay, 47, was charged with drug distribution and drug conspiracy in relation to Skaggs' death and faces a minimum 20-year prison..
The Associated Press reported Skaggs' parents in Texas and his wife in California accused the Angels organizations, as well as Kay and fellow as former communications director Tim Mead, of negligence in relation to the 2019 drug-related death of the 27-year-old pitcher in multiple lawsuits filed last June.
The Angels organization released a statement in response to the lawsuits on June 29 denying any knowledge of Skaggs' opioid use prior to his death, "nor was anyone in management aware or informed of any employee providing opioids to any player."
"The Angels Organization strongly disagrees with the claims made by the Skaggs family and we will vigorously defend these lawsuits in court,” the statement read.
Skaggs was found dead in a suburban Dallas hotel room on July 1, 2019, which was the same day of the Angels' opening game of a four-game series against the Texas Rangers.
Kay was indicted by a federal grand jury in October on charges accusing him of providing the 27-year-old pitcher with drugs prior to his overdose death.
A coroner's report claimed Skaggs choked to death on his vomit with a toxic mix of alcohol and the drugs fentanyl and oxycodone in his system, which Kay is accused of providing to the late pitcher.
Kay, who also served as the team's public relations contact on many road trips along with his communications director duties, was placed on leave shortly after Skaggs' death and was never reinstated by the organization.
Mead, who was Kay's boss, is accused in the lawsuits of knowing that Kay had his own issues with drug addition, which included distributing drugs to players.
“In spite of this knowledge, the Angels continued to allow Kay to have unrestricted access to the players and even permitted him to accompany the team when it traveled for away games,” the suit says via the AP.
Mead has previously stated publicly that he was unaware of Skaggs using opioids prior to his overdose death.
Angels team officials also claim they were unaware of the pitcher's opioid use prior to his passing or that any employees were providing drugs to players.
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