A former addiction counselor who admitted to supplying ketamine connected to the death of “Friends” star Matthew Perry, was sentenced on Wednesday to two years in jail.
U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence in Los Angeles to Erik Fleming, 56, the fourth defendant to be sentenced in the case.
Fleming pleaded guilty last year to distributing ketamine that prosecutors say ultimately contributed to Perry’s fatal overdose in October 2023.
“It’s truly a nightmare I can’t wake up from,” Fleming told the judge prior to sentencing. “I’m haunted by the mistakes I made.”
Fleming worked in film and television before substance abuse derailed his career. After becoming sober, he trained as a drug counselor before prosecutors said he relapsed in 2023 and became involved in brokering ketamine deals.
Fleming would receive his ketamine supply from Sangha and mark-up the price, after learning Perry was searching for larger quantities of the drug than doctors were willing to provide.
He then would deliver dozens of doses to the actor’s live-in personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, which included 25 vials four days before Perry was found dead.
“I procured ketamine for Matthew Perry because I wanted the money and because I thought I was doing a favor for a friend,” Fleming previously said in a letter to the court. ”I never contemplated the worst possible outcome. This grievous failure will haunt me forever.”
Set to be sentenced later this month is Iwamasa, the final defendant in the case, who admitted to injecting Perry several times on the day he died.
The actor was found unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his residence in the Pacific Palisades. A medical examiner later confirmed he died from the acute effects of ketamine, a surgical anesthetic that is also used as an off-label treatment for depression.
