The doctor accused of supplying ketamine to actor Matthew Perry before his death is expected to plead guilty.
Salvador Plasencia, the primary physician linked to Perry’s fatal overdose, has agreed to plead guilty to four counts of distributing ketamine. According to the U.S. Justice Department, each count carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison. The guilty plea is expected in the coming weeks.
Perry, best known for playing Chandler Bing on the hit TV show Friends, died in 2023 at age 54. His death shocked fans around the world and triggered a criminal investigation after an autopsy revealed high levels of ketamine in his system.
Plasencia is accused of buying ketamine from another doctor, Mark Chavez, and selling it to Perry at inflated prices. In one message presented by prosecutors, Plasencia wrote, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.” The Justice Department says Plasencia personally went to Perry’s Los Angeles home to administer the drug by injection.
In total, Plasencia distributed about 20 vials of ketamine to Perry over roughly two weeks in the fall of 2023. Although Perry had been undergoing supervised ketamine therapy for depression, officials believe he developed an addiction to the drug, which is also used recreationally for its psychedelic effects.
Chavez, the second doctor involved, pleaded guilty in October 2023 to conspiring to distribute ketamine. He admitted to supplying Plasencia with the drug during the weeks leading up to Perry’s death.
So far, five people have been charged in connection with the case. Among them is Jasveen Sangha, a woman prosecutors refer to as the “Ketamine Queen,” who allegedly sold the fatal dose to Perry. She has pleaded not guilty. Perry’s live-in assistant and another man pleaded guilty last August to conspiracy charges related to ketamine distribution.
Though Friends made Perry a household name and brought him immense fame and fortune, he battled addiction for decades. In his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Perry revealed he had been to rehab dozens of times and struggled with painkiller and alcohol abuse, even suffering a burst colon in 2018 from drug use.
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