Matthew Perry drug middleman jailed for two years / Photo: MIKE NELSON - AFP/File
Matthew Perry drug middleman jailed for two years
A middleman who helped provide "Friends" actor Matthew Perry with the drugs that killed him was jailed in California on Wednesday.
Erik Fleming became the fourth of five people to be sentenced in connection with the death of the Canadian star, who was found unresponsive in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home in 2023.
Fleming, 56, was ordered to serve two years in federal prison, with a further three months on supervised release after admitting conspiracy to distribute ketamine and distribution of ketamine resulting in death.
"There was overwhelming evidence that Mr Fleming provided the drugs that caused Mr Perry's death," Assistant US Attorney Ian Yaniello told the court in Los Angeles.
Last month a British-American woman dubbed "The Ketamine Queen," who styled herself as a dealer to the stars, was jailed for 15 years.
Jasveen Sangha ran a drugs emporium from her swanky apartment in Los Angeles, from where she dished out narcotics to wealthy customers in America's entertainment capital.
Sangha worked with Fleming to sell 51 vials of ketamine to Perry's live-in personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.
Iwamasa repeatedly injected Perry with the ketamine that she had supplied, including on October 28, 2023, when he administered at least three shots of Sangha's drugs, which killed the actor.
Iwamasa is expected to be sentenced this month.
Two doctors who profited off Perry's addiction have also been sentenced, including one who openly mused: "I wonder how much this moron will pay."
- Chandler -
Perry, 54, had openly struggled for decades with addictions, but had appeared to colleagues to be beating his demons when he died.
The actor had been taking ketamine as part of supervised therapy for depression.
But prosecutors say that by late 2023 he had become addicted to the substance, which is used as an anesthetic, but also has psychedelic properties and is a popular party drug.
His death set off waves of grief among generations of "Friends" fans who loved him as the sarcastic man-child Chandler Bing.
The NBC sitcom, which followed the lives of six New Yorkers navigating adulthood, dating and careers, drew a massive following and made megastars of previously unknown actors.
Perry's role brought him fabulous wealth, but hid a dark struggle with addiction to painkillers and alcohol.
In 2018, he suffered a drug-related burst colon and underwent multiple surgeries.
In his 2022 memoir "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," Perry described going through detox dozens of times.
"I have mostly been sober since 2001," he wrote, "save for about sixty or seventy little mishaps."
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