LOS ANGELES (AP) — A licensed drug addiction counselor who delivered “Friends” star Matthew Perry the doses of ketamine that killed him was sentenced Wednesday to two years in prison.
Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence to 56-year-old Erik Fleming in a federal court in Los Angeles.
“It’s truly a nightmare I can’t wake up from,” Fleming told the judge before the sentence. “I’m haunted by the mistakes I made.” He wore a black suit and spoke at the podium with a deep, somber voice.
A judge ordered Fleming, who has been free on bond for about two years, to turn himself in to serve his term in 45 days. He was also sentenced to three years of probation.
Fleming was the fourth defendant sentenced of the five who have pleaded guilty in prosecutions over the actor’s 2023 death in the Jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home. Fleming connected Perry to Jasveen Sangha, the convicted drug who dealer prosecutors called “The Ketamine Queen.” She was sentenced last month to 15 years in prison.
Fleming gave up Sangha to investigators the same day they found him at his sister's house, where he was sleeping on the couch several months after Perry's death. He became the first defendant to plead guilty in August 2024, admitting to one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. That was before arrests in the case were even announced, and Wednesday was his first court appearance since his role became public knowledge.
His attorney Robert Dugdale told the judge he “handed over the Ketamine Queen on a silver platter.”
“They didn't have a clue who she was before that day," Dugdale said.
He would have gotten about four years in prison if it weren’t for his cooperation, according to federal sentencing guidelines.
The prosecution said he deserved credit for doing the right thing, but argued that he did so only when confronted and cornered by authorities.
Source: WPLG
