Drug Counsellor Who Supplied Fatal Ketamine to Matthew Perry Gets Two Years in Prison

A licensed drug addiction counsellor who delivered the ketamine doses that killed Matthew Perry was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison. Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence to Erik Fleming, 56, at a federal court in Los Angeles for his role in the "Friends" star's death in 2023.

"It's truly a nightmare I can't wake up from," Fleming said in a deep, somber voice from the podium before his sentencing. "I'm haunted by the mistakes I made."

Fleming connected Perry to Jasveen Sangha – prosecutors dubbed her "The Ketamine Queen" – delivering drugs from her home to Perry's and marking them up for profit. Sangha was sentenced last month to 15 years. Fleming's attorney, Robert Dugdale, told the judge that his client "handed over the Ketamine Queen on a silver platter," adding that authorities did not have a clue who she was before that day.

Fleming would likely have received about four years in prison if not for his cooperation. The prosecution acknowledged he deserved credit for doing the right thing but argued that he did so only when confronted and cornered by authorities. Assistant US Attorney Ian Yanniello said Fleming did not cooperate because of a benevolent motive or because he wanted justice for Perry, but because he wanted to save himself.

The judge also noted that Fleming did not come forward in the months after Perry's death and that investigators might have obtained the same information simply by seizing his phone. Still, all parties agreed that his cooperation sped up and smoothed the investigation.

Fleming became the first defendant to plead guilty in August 2024, admitting to distribution of ketamine resulting in death. He told the judge it was an act of desperation "in the midst of the worst time of my life." Outside the courthouse, he said his chest and heart hurt every day for the pain he caused not only Perry's family but also the millions of fans who adored him.

So what exactly was Fleming's role? Perry had been receiving legal ketamine treatments for depression and sought additional supply through a friend, who introduced him to Fleming – a former film and TV producer whose career had been derailed by addiction before he became a counsellor. Fleming said he was in the midst of a major relapse brought on by life struggles. He obtained ketamine from Sangha and took it to Perry's house, where he sold it to the actor's live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa. His deliveries included 25 vials for $6,000 just four days before Perry's death.

Iwamasa injected Perry from that batch on 28 October 2023 and later found him dead. A medical examiner determined that Perry died from the acute effects of ketamine, with drowning as a secondary cause.

The two-and-a-half-year investigation and prosecution are expected to conclude in two weeks with the sentencing of Iwamasa. For Fleming, the two-year sentence marks the end of a chapter that began with a relapse and ended with a nightmare he says he cannot wake up from.