A drug addiction counselor with a license who supplied Friends actor Matthew Perry with the fatal doses of ketamine was given a two-year prison sentence by Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett in a federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Erik Fleming, aged 56, expressed his remorse to the judge before the sentencing, describing it as a never-ending nightmare that he cannot escape. He admitted his errors and wore a black suit while speaking in a solemn tone at the podium.
Fleming is the fourth of five defendants who have pleaded guilty in connection with Perry’s death in 2023 at his Los Angeles residence. He facilitated the connection between Perry and Jasveen Sangha, a convicted drug dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen,” who received a 15-year prison sentence last month.
Following his cooperation with investigators and his early guilty plea in August 2024, Fleming was the first defendant in the case to admit to distributing ketamine resulting in death. He would have faced a longer prison term if not for his cooperation, as per federal sentencing guidelines.
Although prosecutors acknowledged Fleming’s cooperation in a pre-hearing sentencing memo, they also emphasized his role as a drug counselor who knowingly provided illegal drugs to an individual struggling with addiction. Defense lawyers had requested a three-month prison sentence and nine months in a residential drug treatment program for Fleming, highlighting his efforts to make amends for his actions.
Perry, who played Chandler Bing on Friends, had been undergoing ketamine treatments for depression, which is a common off-label use of the drug. Before his death, he sought additional ketamine through a friend who introduced him to Fleming, a former film and television producer turned drug counselor with a history of addiction.
Fleming would purchase ketamine from Sangha, increase the price for profit, and deliver it to Perry’s residence, where the actor’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, would purchase it. Perry was found dead hours after Iwamasa administered ketamine procured from Fleming, with the cause of death determined to be the acute effects of ketamine.
Iwamasa, the final defendant in the case, is scheduled to be sentenced in two weeks. Perry’s estate, including memorabilia from Friends, is set to be auctioned off to support the foundation established in his name posthumously.