A doctor charged with supplying ketamine to Matthew Perry in the months leading up to the Friends actor’s fatal overdose has agreed to plead guilty, according to federal prosecutors.
Dr. Salvador Plasencia has agreed to plead guilty to four counts of distribution of ketamine, prosecutors said in court documents filed Monday and reviewed by Entertainment Weekly. Plasencia, who had been scheduled to start trial in August, faces up to 40 years in prison on the four counts and is expected to enter the plea in the coming weeks.
Attorneys for Plasencia didn’t immediately respond to EW’s request for comment.
The doctor is one of five people charged in connection with Perry’s sudden death on Oct. 28, 2023, from the acute effects of ketamine, a list which also includes Dr. Mark Chavez; Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa; alleged go-between Erik Fleming; and an alleged drug dealer known as “The Ketamine Queen” of North Hollywood, Jasveen Sangha. All but Sangha have now agreed to plead guilty in exchange for their cooperation.
Iwamasa, who admitted to repeatedly injecting Perry with ketamine without medical training, pleaded guilty last August to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death, and Fleming pleaded guilty a day later to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death. In October, Chavez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute the drug.
Prior to his death, Perry was being treated with a legal but controversial ketamine treatment under the supervision of his doctor. Per court documents, on Sept. 30, 2023, Perry allegedly sought out Plasencia for more ketamine than his usual doctor was providing, and Plasencia then turned to Chavez, who previously operated a ketamine clinic.
In text messages to Chavez, Plasencia discussed how much to charge Perry for the ketamine, stating, “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Lets find out,” according to the indictment.
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During September and October of 2023, Plasencia distributed ketamine to Perry and Iwamasa “outside the usual course of professional practice and without a legitimate medical purpose on at least seven occasions,” the indictment states. As such, Plasencia is accused of supplying the bulk of the drug given to Perry in the weeks before his death; however, he did not provide the fatal dose that killed Perry, per the court documents. Prosecutors allege that that dose came from Sangha, who is scheduled to go to trial in August.
Sangha has pleaded not guilty, and if convicted of all charges, would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
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