A man linked to the overdose death of American actor and Friends star Matthew Perry has been sentenced to two years in prison in the United States, according to local media reports.
American drug counsellor Erik Fleming, 56, was among five people charged following Perry’s death.
Prosecutors said Fleming obtained the surgical anaesthetic ketamine from a Los Angeles dealer known as the “Ketamine Queen” before supplying it to the actor. He pleaded guilty in August 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine.
A federal judge also handed Fleming three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a $200 penalty.
Perry was found dead in a backyard jacuzzi at his Southern California home in October 2023.
Authorities later ruled that he died from the acute effects of ketamine.
Federal prosecutors had requested a prison term of two-and-a-half years, while Fleming’s lawyers argued for a lighter punishment of three months in prison followed by nine months in a residential drug treatment programme.
According to the Associated Press, Fleming told Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett during Wednesday’s court hearing: “It’s truly a nightmare I can’t wake up from. I’m haunted by the mistakes I made.”
In a sentencing memo submitted before the hearing, Fleming’s legal team said he had gone “to extreme lengths to atone for his criminal conduct”.
“I made the biggest mistake of my life, and I am so deeply sorry for the hurt I have caused,” Fleming wrote in a letter to the judge in April ahead of sentencing.
He also said he was “overwhelmed with grief and shame” after learning of Perry’s death, admitting that he supplied ketamine to the actor because he wanted money and believed he was helping a friend.
Fleming apologised for what he described as his “inexcusable behavior” and accepted full responsibility for his actions.
“I hope my sentence provides some measure of justice and peace for everyone who loved Matt,” Fleming wrote.
US authorities say Fleming was part of a group that included medical doctors and Perry’s personal assistant, all accused of exploiting the actor’s addiction for financial gain by supplying him with ketamine.
Fleming is the fourth person to be sentenced in the federal investigation, with all defendants so far pleading guilty.
Last month, Jasveen Sangha, 42, the drug dealer nicknamed the “Ketamine Queen”, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for selling drugs connected to Perry’s death.
American doctor Dr Salvador Plasencia, who supplied Perry with ketamine in the weeks leading up to his death, received a 30-month prison sentence in December.
Another California doctor, Dr Mark Chavez, who admitted selling ketamine to Perry, was sentenced in December to eight months of home detention and three years of supervised release.
Kenneth Iwamasa, Perry’s live-in personal assistant, is due to be sentenced on 27 May after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death.
