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Law360 (November 6, 2020, 7:22 PM EST) -- An attorney for a man accused of supplying MLB pitcher Tyler Skaggs with a fatal dose of fentanyl has contracted coronavirus, asking a Texas federal court on Thursday to delay the upcoming trial in the case while he recovers.
The trial of former Los Angeles Angels communications director Eric Kay was set to begin on Dec. 14, but Kay's attorney, William Reagan Wynn of Reagan Wynn Law PLLC, said he was diagnosed with COVID-19 late last month and can't meet with his client or adequately prepare for trial while recovering from the illness under quarantine.
Wynn said that discovery in the case is expected to be "voluminous" and that he will need more time to sift through it and prepare pretrial motions. Prosecutors joined him in the request to push back the trial, but the parties haven't settled on a new date yet.
Kay, a 25-year veteran of the Angels' media department, was indicted in October and charged with distributing a controlled substance that caused death and possession of fentanyl with the intent to distribute. He turned himself in to authorities in Fort Worth in August.
Federal prosecutors allege that Kay provided Skaggs with the drugs found alongside his body in a Southlake, Texas, hotel room in July 2019, when Skaggs was in town to play the Texas Rangers. Kay pled not guilty last month.
Federal prosecutors said Skaggs died from "mixed ethanol, fentanyl and oxycodone intoxication with terminal aspiration of gastric content." In his hotel room, investigators found several prescription pills and white powder that they later determined contained fentanyl, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors claim they have phone records showing Kay and Skaggs discussing oxycodone. During one conversation cited in the complaint, Kay asked Skaggs how many pills he wanted, and Skaggs said, "Just a few like 5." Kay responded, "Word."
Skaggs and Kay "had a history of narcotic transactions," prosecutors alleged, saying Kay also provided drugs to others. From at least 2017 to 2019, Kay allegedly provided counterfeit 30-milligram blue oxycodone pills, which he called "blue boys," to Skaggs and others, "doling out the pills at the stadium where they worked."
In a statement issued in August, the Angels said the organization has fully cooperated with law enforcement and the MLB. It also hired a former federal prosecutor to conduct an independent investigation.
"The circumstances surrounding his death are a tragedy that has impacted countless individuals and their families," the team said.
Counsel for the parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The government is represented by Lindsey Beran and Errin Martin of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Kay is represented by William Reagan Wynn of Reagan Wynn Law PLLC.
The case is USA v. Eric Kay, case number 4:20-cr-00269, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
--Additional reporting by Clark Mindock and Hailey Konnath. Editing by Steven Edelstone.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
