{"id":210615,"date":"2026-05-14T00:35:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T00:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/drug-counselor-who-distributed-ketamine-that-killed-matthew-perry-sentenced-to-2-years-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T00:35:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T00:35:56","slug":"drug-counselor-who-distributed-ketamine-that-killed-matthew-perry-sentenced-to-2-years-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/drug-counselor-who-distributed-ketamine-that-killed-matthew-perry-sentenced-to-2-years-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Drug counselor who distributed ketamine that killed Matthew Perry sentenced to 2 years – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The man who pleaded guilty to distributing the ketamine that killed actor Matthew Perry<\/a> 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\u2019s history of addiction and sought to profit from the actor regardless of the \u201cwarning signs of drug seeking behavior.\u201d
Fleming\u2019s lawyers, citing his cooperation and contrition, argued for three months in federal prison and three years of supervised release.
Fleming expressed his regret in court on Wednesday, telling U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett that he understands the word \u201csorry\u201d cannot make up for the pain that was inflicted.
\u201cI\u2019m haunted by the mistakes I\u2019ve made,\u201d Fleming told the court. \u201cIf there was a way to bring him back I would have done it. I\u2019m mortified I played any role in the death of another person, especially someone as beloved as Mr Perry.\u201d
Garnett did not believe that Fleming was just as culpable as Dr. Salvador Plasencia, who administered the ketamine to Perry and supplied more of the drug despite seeing the effect. But the judge argued that Fleming was \u201cnot a whole lot less\u201d responsible.
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 \u201cFriends\u201d star in October 2023, including the portion that killed him, prosecutors alleged.
\u201cDespite knowing the risks and dangers of selling the drugs, defendant brokered multiple drug transactions that ultimately killed Mr. Perry,\u201d 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\u2019s 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<\/a> 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\u2019 Pacific Palisades neighborhood on Oct. 28, 2023, and was declared dead.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner\u2019s Office attributed Perry\u2019s death to an accidental ketamine overdose<\/a>, and said drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine \u2014 used to treat opioid use disorder \u2014 were factors.
In his letter to the court, Fleming wrote, \u201cI felt overwhelmed with grief and shame when I found out Matthew Perry died. I knew what I had done.\u201d
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 <\/a>was ordered last year to serve 2 1\/2 years in prison. Dr. Mark Chavez<\/a> was sentenced last year to 8 months of home detention and 3 years of supervised release.
Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
NBC News Producer
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeThe man who pleaded guilty to distributing the ketamine that killed actor Matthew Perry was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Erik Fleming pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiracy to distribute ketamine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":210616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-210615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}