Eric Kay, the former Los Angeles Angels communications director was sentenced to 22 years in prison for causing the death of pitcher Tyler Skaggs in 2019. 

While the minimum sentence for distribution of a controlled substance is 20 years, Senior U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means added two years because the lack of remorse on Kay’s part, who gave Skaggs fentanyl on the night of his death, nearly three years ago. Kay was convicted by a jury in February this year.

During the trial, prosecutors detailed Kay’s lack of remorse by sharing phone calls and emails that the former comms director had made. In calls to his mother from jail, he had called the Skaggs family “dumb” and “white trash”. 

In addition, he also called the jurors who convicted him of Skaggs’ death in February “fat, sloppy, toothless and unemployed.”

Who is Eric Kay?

Eric Kay was the Los Angeles Angels’ communications director. According to his LinkedIn page, he had been with the franchise as the comms director for more than six years. At the time of Skaggs’ death, Kay was in outpatient treatment for substance abuse, according to a report from CNN. 

The convicted former Angels employee worked for several sports franchises over the years. According to his LinkedIn page, he worked in “stadium media operations” for the Rose Bowl Game for 15 years. Prior to that, he interned for the Anaheim Ducks as an intern for a year in the early 1990s. He also interned for the Los Angeles Rams for a year in 1994. 

Kay attended Pepperdine University, a private Christian university in California. He graduated in 1996 with a major in public relations. 

In fact, the sentenced individual had a history of opiod abuse which was exacerbated by his father’s death. Kay would supply many players on the LA Angels with narcotics, according to the testimonies of five players during the trial.