Matthew Perry’s doctor to plead guilty for illegal ketamine distribution

A California doctor accused of illegally providing ketamine to Mathew Perry in the weeks before the actor’s death due to overdose in 2023 has agreed to plead guilty, becoming the fourth person charged in the case to do so.

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Dr Salvador Plasencia was originally set to go on trial in August but agreed to sign a plea agreement admitting guilt on four counts of ketamine distribution in exchange for dropping three additional counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of falsifying records. Plasencia is expected to plead guilty on Wedneday. He had previously pleaded not guilty on all charges. 

Perry was not under the care of Plasencia leading up to his death. Still, the doctor is accused of supplying the Friends actor with 20 vials of ketamine totalling 100 mg of the drug, along with ketamine lozenges and syringes. He is accused of colluding with another doctor, Mark Chavez, in the supply of drugs. A text exchange between the two read, “I wonder how much this moron will pay.”

The charges against Plasencia carry a maximum penalty of 40 years, though a lighter sentence is possible given the plea deal.

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Perry was found dead in his Los Angeles home on October 28, 2023, by his assistant Kenneth Iwamasa. Medical examiners ruled his death a ketamine overdose. The actor had been prescribed by his doctor as a legal treatment for depression, but sought larger quantities under the radar.

Iwamasa, Chavez, and Perry’s friend have already pleaded guilty and are cooperating with authorities to uncover a wider chain of distribution. The only remaining defendant who has not reached an agreement with the US Attorney's Office is Jasveen Sangha, also known as the “Ketamine Queen”. She has pleaded not guilty.

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