Doctor charged in Matthew Perry's death reaches plea deal

The Justice Department reported that the doctor suspected of profiting from actor Matthew Perry’s ketamine addiction—Perry being the star of Friends who died of an overdose in 2023—has accepted a plea deal.

Prosecutors told AFP in a statement that Salvador Plasencia, the lead doctor charged in the case, plans to plead guilty to ketamine distribution “in the coming weeks.” He faces up to 40 years in federal prison.

A second Los Angeles doctor, Mark Chavez, has already admitted to illegally helping supply ketamine to the actor and could face up to 10 years in prison.

Perry, best known for playing the sarcastic Chandler Bing on Friends, had been open about his struggles with addiction. His death at 54 stunned fans around the world.

The Canadian-American actor used ketamine under medical supervision as part of his therapy to treat depression.

However, this legal anesthetic is sometimes misused as a stimulant, and he relapsed into uncontrolled use in 2023. Investigators say this relapse led him to fall into the hands of unscrupulous doctors.

Dr. Plasencia is accused of playing a central role in the case, though he was not the one who supplied the ketamine that caused the actor’s death.

According to the prosecution, this doctor exploited the comedian during his illness.

The plea agreement released Monday states that Plasencia received the drug from Dr. Chavez and personally went to Perry’s home to inject him with ketamine or hand it to the actor’s assistant.

According to prosecutors, Plasencia “distributed 20 vials” of ketamine to the actor over about two weeks in the fall of 2023.

Authorities previously reported that the ketamine vials cost the doctors around $12 each but were sold to Perry for $2,000.

Five suspects are facing charges related to Perry’s death.

In addition to Plasencia and Chavez, another defendant is Jasveen Sangha, a drug dealer known in Hollywood as the “Ketamine Queen.”

This British-American citizen sold the bottle of ketamine that caused the actor’s death and now faces life in prison. She has pleaded not guilty.

Perry’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and an intermediary, Eric Fleming, have both agreed to plead guilty.