FORT WORTH, Texas — A Fort Worth jury has found former Los Angeles Angels employee accused of providing the drugs that killed pitcher Tyler Skaggs guilty.
The verdict comes just over a week after the trial began.
Eric Kay, 47, the former Los Angels Director of Communications, faced charges of drug distribution and drug conspiracy following the death of Skaggs. The jury found him guilty of both counts.
His conviction could carry a sentence of 20 years to life for one of the drug charges. Sentencing is set for June 28.
Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his Southlake, Texas hotel room in July 2019 before the start of a series between the Angels and Texas Rangers. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office later determined that Skaggs had a mixture of ethanol, fentanyl and oxycodone in his system at the time of his death.
During closing arguments, federal prosecutors said they proved Eric Kay was the only person who could have given Skaggs the drugs that led to his overdose death. But, a defense attorney suggested in closing arguments the government’s case against Kay was built on assumptions.
During the trial, several MLB players took the stand and testified that they received oxycodone pills, dubbed "blue boys," from Kay and that he was the only source of the pills, which they said Kay distributed in Angels Stadium.
Kay, who had been thought would take the stand, did not testify on his behalf. He was led away from the courtroom in handcuffs after the verdict was read, as his mom and family looked on.
In a statement posted after the verdict, the Los Angeles Angels president Carpino said that the entire Angels organization was "saddened by the devastating heartache that surrounds this tragedy, especially for the Skaggs family."
"Our compassion goes out to all the families and individuals that have been impacted," the statement read.
Carpino added that the testimony from the players "was incredibly difficult for our organization to hear," and a reminder that "too often drug use and addition are hidden away."
"From the moment we learned of Tyler's death, our focus has been to understand the circumstances that led to this tragedy," the statement continued. "We are thankful that Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association have taken the important step to update their drug policies for players using opioids so that they can receive help."
Material from the Associated Press contributed to this report.