INDIANAPOLIS – The FBI is investigating the death of former NFL Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsey, as well as the death of a recovery doctor who provided him with prescription pain pills and ketamine in the final months of his life, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post and two people with knowledge of the investigation.
A federal grand jury subpoena reviewed by The Post shows the agency is seeking records and information related to Irsey’s death, his “substance (illegal and prescription) use” and his relationship with Dr. Harry Haroutunian, a prominent addiction specialist based in California.
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The subpoena was issued earlier this month by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles. Federal agents visited Indianapolis several days this month, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation, and interviewed several people who were close to Irsay in the final years of his life. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.
A spokesman for the FBI’s regional office in Los Angeles did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. The Beverly Hills Police Department, which initially investigated Irsay’s death, has not been contacted by the FBI, a department spokesman said.
Dan Emerson, the Colts’ chief legal officer, said in a phone interview Thursday that the team is aware of the investigation but has not been subpoenaed or contacted by the FBI.
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“I understand there have been some subpoenas served, but not to me, the Colts or our current employees,” said Emerson, who declined to comment further.
Recovery doctor Harutunian did not respond to messages seeking comment this week.
Irsay died in May at the age of 65 while on vacation at a Beverly Hills hotel in California. Haroutunian was staying at the hotel and supervising Irse’s treatment. He signed the death certificate as having cardiac arrest due to pneumonia and heart problems. No autopsy was performed, and Beverly Hills police closed their investigation the day after the death.
But in August, a Post investigation revealed that Irsay, who publicly claimed to have kicked his addiction to pain pills, had secretly relapsed and received opioid pills and ketamine injections from Haroutunian in the final months of his life, scaring many people close to the longtime Colts owner.
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The Post reviewed pictures of pill bottles that showed Haroutunian had prescribed more than 200 opioid pills to Irsay in the days before he suffered two overdoses in a 12-day span in December 2023. According to four people who witnessed the Colts owner, Haroutunian later added ketamine to Irsay’s treatment regimen.
“I dedicated 18 months of my life to trying to take care of him … as a brother,” Haroutunian told the Post in a brief interview this summer. “We did everything we could to make him as comfortable as possible.”
According to experts, the use of ketamine with substance abuse patients is controversial, with the well-publicized case of actor Matthew Perry showing the potential for abuse. Perry died in 2023, He was also investigated by federal law enforcement in Southern California, where criminal charges were filed against five people involved in the drug purchase, including two doctors.
Irsay was one of the most charismatic and influential NFL owners of his generation, known as much for his colorful personality as he was for the success on the field of the Colts, who won the Super Bowl in 2007. But he struggled with addiction throughout his life, which periodically led to public unrest around the Colts, with police finding dozens of dollars in cash in 2007. the car He was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol.
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After the 2014 incident, Irsay took pride in speaking openly about his struggles with addiction and started a nonprofit initiative related to mental health issues, including substance abuse disorders, called Kicking the Stigma. But in December 2023, signs of a relapse emerged.
Police and paramedics were called to Irsey’s home outside Indianapolis after he was found unconscious. Police treated the incident as a “suspected overdose”, but Irsay later claimed that drugs did not play a role and that he had only suffered a leg injury.
The incident was actually an overdose, the Post later reported, as was a separate incident 12 days later at a hotel outside Miami. A second overdose put Irsay in the hospital for several months. The Colts, at the time, claimed that he was being treated for a “severe respiratory illness”. Irsay later offered another explanation, claiming he was recovering from back surgery.
Irsay’s treating physician throughout this period was Harutunian, known around the Colts – and to his patients – as “Dr. Harry”. A former medical director and spokeswoman for the famed Betty Ford Center in Southern California, Haroutunian has treated many celebrities for substance abuse disorders over the years, including Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler.
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Razan Nakhlawi contributed to this report.
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