The man who pleaded guilty to distributing the ketamine that killed actor Matthew Perry was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison.
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Erik Fleming pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious injury. He appeared Wednesday morning in Los Angeles federal court, where a judge decided on a 24-month sentence with no significant fine.
He will also have to pay $200 special assessment charge and turn himself in by noon on June 29.
Federal prosecutors recommended a 30-month sentence and three years supervised release, arguing that Fleming was well aware of Perry’s history of addiction and sought to profit from the actor regardless of the “warning signs of drug seeking behavior.”
Fleming’s lawyers, citing his cooperation and contrition, argued for three months in federal prison and three years of supervised release.
In court documents, prosecutors said Fleming was a licensed drug counselor who reached out to Perry in 2023 after learning through a friend that the actor was seeking ketamine. Fleming, 56, sold 51 10 ml vials of liquid ketamine to the “Friends” star in October 2023, including the portion that killed him, prosecutors alleged.
“Despite knowing the risks and dangers of selling the drugs, defendant brokered multiple drug transactions that ultimately killed Mr. Perry,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli wrote in a sentencing memo to the court.
In a letter to the court requesting a lenient sentence, Fleming acknowledged he knew about the actor’s struggles with drugs.
Prosecutors said Fleming worked with Jasveen Sangha, the so-called “Ketamine Queen,” to give Perry the drug. Sangha was sentenced last month to 15 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release.
Perry was 54 when he was found unresponsive in a pool at his home in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood on Oct. 28, 2023, and was declared dead.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office attributed Perry’s death to an accidental ketamine overdose, and said drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine — used to treat opioid use disorder — were factors.
In his letter to the court, Fleming wrote, “I felt overwhelmed with grief and shame when I found out Matthew Perry died. I knew what I had done.”
Prosecutors said Fleming was cooperative and provided useful information on others involved in the conspiracy to provide Perry with ketamine, according to court documents.
Two doctors were also charged in connection with providing ketamine to Perry. Dr. Salvador Plasencia was ordered last year to serve 2 1/2 years in prison. Dr. Mark Chavez was sentenced last year to 8 months of home detention and 3 years of supervised release.
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