Five people have been charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s death from a ketamine overdose last year, including the actor’s assistant and two doctors.
ADVERTISEMENTNearly 10 months after the death of Friends star Matthew Perry, the investigation into the ketamine that killed him came dramatically into public view with the announcement that five people had been charged with having roles in the overdose of the actor.
One or more arrests had been expected since investigators from three different agencies revealed earlier this year that they had been conducting a joint probe into how the 54-year-old Perry got such large amounts of ketamine.
The actor had been among the growing number of patients using legal but off-label medical means to treat depression, or in other cases chronic pain, with the powerful surgical anesthetic.
Recent reports suggested indictments might be imminent, but few outside observers, if any, knew how wide-ranging the prosecution would be, reaching much further than previous cases stemming from celebrity overdoses.
There have been indictments against doctors and illegal distributors who prosecutors say preyed on Perry’s long and public struggles with addiction. The investigation even went after the live-in personal assistant who prosecutors say helped him get ketamine and injected it directly into him before Perry was found dead in his hot tub on 28 October 2023.
“They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry. But they did it anyway,” US Attorney Martin Estrada said in announcing the charges.
The prosecution was well under way even before the announcement. Two people including the assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and a Perry acquaintance, Eric Fleming, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute the drug. A San Diego physician, Dr. Mark Chavez, has agreed to enter a guilty plea.
That leaves prosecutors free to pursue their two biggest targets: the doctor and the ‘Ketamine Queen’.
An indictment unsealed Thursday alleges Perry turned to Los Angeles doctor Salvador Plasencia when his regular doctors refused to give him more ketamine. Prosecutors allege Plasencia cashed in on Perry's desperation and addiction, getting him to pay $55,000 in cash for large amounts of the drug in the two months before his death.
“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted a co-defendant, according to his indictment.
He pleaded not guilty to seven counts of distribution of ketamine in an appearance in federal court on Thursday afternoon.
Prosecutors allege Jasveen Sangha, whom they describe as a drug dealer known to customers as the “Ketamine Queen," provided the doses of the drug that actually killed Perry, injected into the actor by Iwamasa with syringes supplied by Plasencia.
Sangha also pleaded not guilty. Her attorney Alexandra Kazarian derided the “queen” moniker as made-for-media consumption during the hearing. The lawyer declined comment on the case outside court.
Prosecutors say the other doctor in the case, Chavez, helped Plasencia obtain the ketamine he gave to Perry, while Perry's acquaintance, Fleming, helped get ketamine from Sangha to Perry.
Chavez could get up to 10 years in prison, Iwamasa up to 15 years and Fleming up to 25 years.
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Sangha could get life in prison if convicted as charged, while Plasencia could get up to 120 years. Each has a trial date in October, but it is highly unlikely any would be facing a jury by then, and the two may be tried together. They also could face testimony from the co-defendants who reached plea agreements.
Magistrate Judge Alka Sagar ruled Sangha should be held without bond while awaiting trial, citing prosecutors' contentions that she had destroyed evidence and funded a lavish lifestyle with drug sales even after Perry's death.
The judge agreed to release Plasencia after he posted a $100,000 bond.
His attorney argued the Perry case was “isolated” and the doctor should be allowed to treat patients who depended on him at his one-man practice while awaiting trial.
ADVERTISEMENT“I'm not buying that argument,” Sagar said, but agreed Plasencia could see patients so long as they signed a document in which he acknowledged the charges.
“People have probably already heard about it from the amount of press,” Sacks told the judge, noting if they hadn't, they would soon.
Records show Plasencia’s medical license has been in good standing with no records of complaints, though it is set to expire in October and he could face action. He already has surrendered his federal license to prescribe more dangerous drugs.
