Eric Prescott Kay, 45, the former communications director for the Los Angeles Angels, has been charged with conspiracy to distribute a mixture containing detectable amounts of fentanyl in connection with the 2019 overdose death of MLB pitcher Tyler Skaggs. The criminal complaint, filed July 30 and unsealed Friday, marks a grim turning point in the federal investigation into the fatal drug distribution linked to a major league clubhouse.
Kay was arrested in Fort Worth, Texas, and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey L. Cureton at the Mahon Federal Courthouse. Authorities allege that Kay supplied Skaggs with counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl—known on the street as ‘blue boys’—in the hours before the 27-year-old pitcher was found dead in his hotel room at the Southlake Town Square Hilton on July 1, 2019. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office concluded that fentanyl was the primary cause of death; without it, Skaggs would have survived.
Inside Skaggs’s room, investigators recovered pills, including a single blue M/30 tablet—visually identical to legitimate 30-milligram oxycodone—later confirmed to contain fentanyl. Text messages from Skaggs’s phone show he texted Kay on June 30, asking him to bring pills to his room. Hotel key card records place Kay’s room (No. 367) being accessed at 11:29 p.m., followed by Skaggs’s room (No. 469) at 11:38 p.m. Kay initially denied visiting Skaggs that night but later admitted to a colleague that he had.
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division uncovered evidence that Kay routinely distributed ‘blue boys’ not only to Skaggs but to others at the Angels’ stadium. These pills, often manufactured in clandestine labs, are frequently indistinguishable from prescription medication but carry lethal doses of synthetic opioids. Kay allegedly used his position and access to facilitate a dangerous underground supply chain within the team’s inner circle.
“Tyler Skaggs’s overdose – coming, as it did, in the midst of an ascendant baseball career – should be a wakeup call: No one is immune from this deadly drug, whether sold as a powder or hidden inside an innocuous-looking tablet,” said U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox. DEA Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez added, “Every pill taken could be your last.”
A criminal complaint is not evidence of guilt. Eric Prescott Kay is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison. The investigation was led by the DEA’s Dallas Field Division and the Southlake Police Department, with support from the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.
Related Federal Cases
- 10 Lbs of Meth & Fentanyl: NY Man Faces Life in MO · Kansas
- Jasper Man Admits to Cocaine Deal Linked to Death · Texas
- Nancy Pineda Arrested in Heroin Death at McDonald’s · Texas
- Buffalo Woman Pleads Guilty in Fentanyl Prescription Scam · Texas
- Amber Kay Otero Pleads Guilty to Oxycodone Theft in Carlsbad · New Mexico
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
🔒 Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
Browse More
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
Drug TraffickingDrug TraffickingDrug TraffickingDrug Trafficking