Breaking News!
Per Jeff Fletcher, Eric Kay was indicted today related to the death of Tyler Skaggs. Count 1 is “Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.” Count 2 is “Distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death or serious bodily injury.”
That second charge is, for all practical purposes, a manslaughter charge given the facts of this case. Eric Kay is innocent until proven guilty, but it is not looking good for him right now. We will update this story as further details come to light.
While everyone has the first choice on whether or not to do drugs, some do not have the choice to do Pharm. Drugs, it sneaks up on you faster than you think. Regardless of Kay’s intentions in providing Skaggs with pain meds it is a very depressing tale that hopefully may save one, two or 2o lives down the road. As told before I have a lot of kids and grandkids, a large family. We have ourselves a drug addict (Meth) and it is not pretty, as a matter of fact it is a huge waste of a young man. The story is repeated with the same endings every minute of everyday. But remember this, drug providers do have a choice.
Although the stench runs deep on this one, Arte has already circled the wagons and protected his inner circle. In the end Kay will plead out and all that will be learned from this tragedy is what was known already: Skaggs was addicted to pain meds, many of his friends knew about it and did nothing, and the outcome has wrecked multiple families for a generation or more.
Paragraph 21 is the worst. Several people knew Kay supplied Skaggs, but nobody came forward to say anything.
“Rat” culture not only protects cheaters and criminals, it also kills people that need help.
Kay’s lawyer talks tough like they intend to make a trial of this, but in the end Eric Kay may name names in order to get the lightest sentence he can.
May? He’s already dropped Tim Mead’s name in his statement. He’ll name every name who could have possibly been in any room with him and/or Tyler.
Yeah. I think to get any traction with the feds he is going to have to name upstream guys in the supply chain, which could make prison a dangerous environment for him. It sucks to be Eric Kay right now.
Edit: I mean more dangerous than it already is. He probably won’t get supermax, but I doubt if he ends up in a golf course prison.
As regards the supply chain I am pretty sure he got the drugs as a legitimate prescription ostensibly for his own use and then resold them.
He may however have had an additional source, I don’t know. But if memory serves he was addicted himself and had been using for awhile. Not sure if it was Oxycodone or OxyContin.
Read the complaint. The blue pills he was supplying (the ones with the Fentanyl that were the cause of death) are counterfeit.
Of course anything with fentanyl would be. But back when it all started it could have been that Kay was simply selling Tyler his own stock.
But if demand increased he would have needed another source somehow.
Possibly. So easy to make a ton of assumptions in this case. I’m sure we’ll find out if he had a legitimate prescription or always hit the streets. Either way for a guy of Tyler’s stature better to let Kay take the risk in acquiring the pills.
The Mexican Oxy’s and various knock offs are killing a lot of people. One of my best friend’s son, 21, died from taking what he thought was a Percoset that was really fentanyl.
You saying Eric isn’t going to be able to pick his prison. He should have gotten Lori Loughlin lawyer.
Here is the affidavit in support of a criminal complaint. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/press-release/file/1302771/download
Just sucks all around.
Just a sad story on every front. So many lives ruined. Don’t do illegal drugs, kids. It ain’t worth it.
Agreed! If Skaggs didn’t have to go to the black market, the drugs wouldn’t have come with fentanyl and he could come clean to his doctor that he was hooked and needed help, while openly getting the drugs he needed while getting off his addiction.
Instead addicts like Skaggs and Kay are treated like criminals, forced to the blackmarket and we can see how that ends up.
I know this is assuming a lot, but in general, putting addicts in jail isn’t a winning long term strategy. We have a demand problem in this country, but we’re trying to fight the supply side. So far the war on drugs can’t be considered a success.
Yeah, right there with you for the most part.
Largely agree. Voted for the treatment over jail time bill, which sadly creates more probation violations than actual help.
In this cast Tyler likely got his first opiates from a doctor. Fortunately for me I’ve been through a decade of substance abuse so I know not to take that first one. Most people who end up hooked on opiates don’t have that background.
A quick look at the Federal Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Guidelines suggests that Eric Kay is looking at 20 years to life on the second charge alone.
Tragic. Does anyone doubt that if it wasn’t from Eric Kay, Skaggs would have found someone else to get drugs from?
No. His status as a ballplayer means there are several people willing to get him what he wants in exchange for being a buddy of a ballplayer.