Five people have been arrested in relation to the death of Matthew Perry, the beloved Friends star who passed away from ketamine's acute effects last October. The New York Times reports that Perry's personal assistant, two doctors, and two others have been charged and indicted.
Perry was found lifeless in his Los Angeles home's hot tub on October 28, 2023. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office autopsy revealed that ketamine was the main cause of Perry's death. Other factors like drowning, coronary artery disease, and buprenorphine (used for opioid disorder treatment) also played a role. Perry was 54 at the time of his passing.
Court documents filed in California federal court allege that Perry's personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, worked with an acquaintance, two doctors, and a drug dealer to allegedly get thousands of dollars worth of ketamine for the Friends actor. On Wednesday, a grand jury charged urgent care doctor Salvador Plasencia, known as “Dr. P.,” and Jasveen Sangha, reportedly called the “Ketamine Queen,” with supplying Perry ketamine despite knowing his substance abuse history. The charges include conspiracy to distribute ketamine, distribution of ketamine resulting in death, intent to distribute methamphetamine, and tampering with records in a federal investigation.
The Times reports that an unnamed source familiar with the case said Perry's assistant Iwamasa, Perry's acquaintance Erik Fleming, and another doctor, Mark Chavez, faced separate charges. All three pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ketamine.
The indictment states that Sangha, the “Ketamine Queen,” ran a North Hollywood stash house for storing, packaging, and distributing drugs like ketamine and methamphetamine. In March, law enforcement raided Sangha's home, seizing 79 bottles of liquid ketamine and nearly 2,000 meth pills. She pleaded not guilty to charges of intent to distribute methamphetamine earlier this year.
Dr. Plasencia, or “Dr. P,” marketed himself online as “The Health MD,” a longevity coach, doctor, entrepreneur, and fitness expert. Court documents allege that Plasencia and his mentor, Dr. Chavez, planned to buy ketamine to sell to Perry, referred to as “victim M.P.” Prosecutors claim Dr. Plasencia texted Dr. Chavez about pricing, writing, “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Lets find out.”
Perry had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy in the weeks before his death. However, the autopsy showed that the ketamine in his system when he died couldn't have come from his last recorded therapy session, which was about a week and a half earlier. Dr. Plasencia's indictment accuses him of lying to officials about Perry's ketamine treatment. He allegedly provided a fake document showing Perry's medical treatment plan, claiming a maximum dose of 60 milligrams over 24 hours. The indictment states that Plasencia knowingly “injected Victim M.P. with ketamine dosages far in excess of 60 milligrams.”
The indictment alleges that Dr. Plasencia sold “thousands of dollars” worth of ketamine to Iwasama and personally injected Perry with the drug at his Los Angeles home and in a car in a Long Beach parking lot. Court documents say that during one session, a large ketamine dose caused Perry to “freeze up” involuntarily, leading Dr. Plasencia to warn against similar-sized injections in the future. Fleming allegedly bought 25 ketamine vials from Sangha on October 24 and gave them to Iwamasa. Court documents claim Iwamasa allegedly gave Perry at least 27 ketamine shots over five days, leading to his death on October 28.
Court papers reveal that on the day Perry died, Sangha updated her Signal app to auto-delete messages with Fleming, allegedly telling him to “delete all our messages.” Two days after Perry's death, Fleming texted Sangha: “Please call . . . Got more info and want to bounce ideas off you. I'm 90% sure everyone is protected. I never dealt with [Victim M.P.]. Only his Assistant. So the Assistant was the enabler. Also they are doing a 3 month tox screening … Does K stay in your system or is it immediately flushed out[?]”
Perry's battle with addiction was well-known. In his 2022 book Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, he shared his struggles, including 15 rehab stays, 65 detox attempts, and 14 surgeries due to opioid use. He told The New York Times, “I've probably spent $9 million or something trying to get sober.”
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