2 Arrests Made Stemming From Drug Sales In Derek Boogaard's Death
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - A former minor league hockey player has been arrested on charges he sold illegally obtained prescription painkillers to former hockey player Derek Boogaard of the New York Rangers and the Minnesota Wild who died of an accidental overdose.
Jordan Hart was arrested Tuesday on charges in a federal indictment unsealed in New York.
Also arrested was a physician's assistant, Oscar Johnson. His Utah-based employer provided medical services to hockey players.
Hart was to appear in federal court in Manhattan. Johnson was to appear in federal court in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was not immediately clear who would represent them.
As WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported, Johnson is charged with illegally prescribing the addictive drugs; Hart is charged with selling the pills for cash.
2 Arrests Made Stemming From Drug Sales In Derek Boogaard's Death
Prosecutors said Hart sold at least some Percocet pills to the Rangers enforcer, who died in 2011.
Boogaard has played his last hockey game in December 2010 when he suffered a severe concussion during an on-ice fight.
As Cornell reported, at the time of his death, he had been taking a break from a rehab facility in California to visit family in Minneapolis. There, he took the oxycodone he'd bought in New York and died of the overdose. He was 28.
In May 2013, Boogaard's family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the NHL, blaming it for brain damage he suffered as an enforcer and for his addiction to prescription painkillers.
One of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit, William Gibbs, said Monday the NHL profited from Boogaard's physical abilities as team doctors dispensed "pain pills like candy" after he suffered repeated injuries.
"The NHL drafted Derek Boogaard because it wanted his massive body to fight in order to enhance ratings, earnings and exposure," Gibbs said. "Then, once he became addicted to these narcotics, the NHL promised his family that it would take care of him. It failed."
Boogaard's mother echoed that sentiment.
"He was there protecting his teammates at all costs, but who was there to protect him?" Joanne Boogaard said in a statement release by her attorneys.
The lawsuit says the NHL couldn't claim ignorance about the consequences to Boogaard.
You Might Also Be Interested In:
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
